


My Sappy, Sweet, Sugary Epilogue

by Newfrickinshow



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:15:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 36,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25924225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Newfrickinshow/pseuds/Newfrickinshow
Summary: The writers left the series open-ended so the fans could write their own epilogues.  That's what this is.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), George/Lance (She-Ra), Netossa/Spinnerella (She-Ra)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

NOTE: I read somewhere that when She-ra: Princesses of Power ended, they didn't include an epilogue or long-term view of what happens on purpose. The idea was to let the fans come up with their own. Well I decided to take them up on it and this is just that, my head-canon epilogue. For those of you looking for great storytelling, plot twists, and compelling drama I recommend elsewhere. This story is likely going to be just sugary-sweet, schmaltzy, and sappy fan service. As a tiny trigger warning there won't be any sex but there will probably be innuendo here and there. We're talking about young adults in happy, loving relationships so that topic comes up once in a while.

For those who want that, carry on but first I need to do a little scene setting and I'm not clever enough to do it in story so here's what you need to know flat out. This story picks up about four years after the finale. The four person, “best friend squad,” along with Hordak, Wrong Hordak, and Entrapta had traveled space bringing magic back to the universe as planned. Before leaving Glimmer looked at her own mistakes, the number of her friends that had been enemies at some point in the war, the mind control, kidnapped kids raised without many choices, and considered the logistics of locking up all the former Horde Soldiers and I have decided she pulled an Abraham Lincoln. After the war she gave everyone on both sides full pardons for anything directly related to the war itself and decided now was a time for healing and patching up old wounds, not creating new ones. While away Glimmer put her father in charge of Bright Moon and the story picks up about 10 days after they return. There will probably also be a bit of monologue stuff as I consider character motivations and stuff like that. Hope you enjoy.

Adora and Catra had woken up early and sneaked out of the castle before most of the castle inhabitants woke up. It had been a bit difficult dealing with Bow and Glimmer since they got back, though neither of the women blamed them for being as neurotic as they were. It could be hard to hold onto a big secret and they had two fairly large ones that they had been holding on to. They had nearly slipped up a time or two and Glimmer in particular seemed ready to burst and spill the beans. So far though they had looked out for one another and been able to keep the other from spilling the beans with Adora doing her part to help steer conversations with Micah away from areas that made keeping quiet harder. Bow had it worse since he had a third secret that he was keeping from everyone on Etheria plus Glimmer.

For now though Catra and Adora were able to sit with their backs to a very old, very thick, sturdy tree on the edges of the forest across the river from Brightmoon Castle. Sun above them with shade keeping it from getting too hot, birds chirping, and the occasional rodent running around were the only things around them. The time they spent travelling the universe gave them an opportunity to heal and get closer. With a smaller group of amazingly forgiving friends around her during that time, Catra was able to gain the confidence and self-esteem she had desperately needed for so much of her life. Even with just the seven people though it was difficult early on at times. It was a small ship after all and she and she had many demons that need to work out so sometimes even the ship began to feel a bit crowded. Sometimes Catra just wanted to be alone and others she wanted to just be alone with Adora. Even if in a separate room and asking others to give her some room, knowing how tiny the ship was always left her feeling apprehensive in those moments.

Now though she could just relax and be comfortable, alone with the woman she loved. Since they arrived so many people wanted to greet them, talk to them, and just shake their hands that Catra felt a bit stressed. This morning was the first time that they were able to get away from everyone and just enjoy the natural, magical beauty of their home planet all by themselves.. For a long time they didn't say anything. They just laid their backs against the tree holding hands, eyes closed enjoying the smells and sounds around them. With so much time spent in space and on a sterile ship they hadn't been able to enjoy many of the little things you find on a planet teeming with life. It took nearly fifteen minutes before either of them broke the silence and it was Adora who finally spoke.

“Have I ever told you how absolutely amazing you are?”

Catra just gave a tiny laugh and half-smirk for a moment before responding. “A couple of times. But I think this could be the first time you've said it while we were both fully dressed.”

Adora let go of Catra's hand and stretched out a little bit before putting both hands together and placing them between her own head and the tree, “I mean it. Being back on Etheria I've been thinking back a little bit on our dark patch in ways that I hadn't before. The thing I keep thinking about is how unbelievably impressive you handled yourself.” 

It wasn't long into their travels through space before The Best Friend Squad realized that they would need to be able to talk frankly and openly about the time Catra was fighting against them. ;Wrong Hordak helped a lot too, convincing them that suppressing their feelings wouldn't be healthy and slowly they began to open up about it. Catra and Adora referred to their childhood as the Horde Years and the times they fought on opposing sides of the war was dubbed The Rough Patch. This way they could continue constructive and open conversation between them and avoid being judgmental.

“I'm glad you think so but you won. If I'm amazing then what does that make you?”

Adora sighed as she craned her neck in Catra's direction and looked at her, “Thinking back I'm not so sure I did.”

Catra turned her head and looked Adora in the eyes, “I don't see Horde soldiers marching around or Prime making any more speeches. Seems like you won from where I'm sitting.”

“Yeah, but were you really on Horde Prime's side? You played along but from what you said, from what Glimmer's told me it sounds like you soured on him rather quickly.” Adora then looked down for a moment and idly pulled a couple blades of grass out of the ground before continuing,. “But even saying that, honestly, he had beaten me. I was trapped by Horde Prime and was stuck in that weird green mind-trap thing of his. I had given up but it was you who brought me back. I would've died without you. I didn't beat Horde Prime.”

Adora moved a little uncomfortably before crisscrossing her legs and scooting back in order to sit a bit more upright. “WE beat Horde Prime. Before he had even entered the scene, it was my goal to stop the portal from returning Etheria to the universe and it was your goal to open that portal. That portal opened and we're in the universe now. So you won on that one. The reason Glimmer opened it was because your Horde was taking more ground than ever. Things were very bleak and dire in Brightmoon with me on their side. But with you in command of The Horde they seemed to be doing just fine. I'm She-ra. I'm a super powered alien from another world with a magic sword that lets me fly through space blasting ships. She-ra can heal people and is strong enough to throw a tank! Meanwhile all you had was you wits and quickness and I failed to stop you. As far as that time in our lives go, you succeeded. You beat me. Without a flying horse, magic sword or super powers. It was just you but somehow you still won. My victories didn't really come until we had a common enemy and were on the same side.”

Catra looked away from Adora as the short speech ended and looked down at her feet. It was weird to think about but she couldn't deny much of what Adora said. As much as she agreed and as much as it made sense, Catra found it was hard to accept a lot of it. Even after all this time some of Shadow Weaver's “parenting” still remained and it was sometimes difficult to accept that she was on Adora's level. 

She pulled her legs up towards her chest before wrapping her arms around them and placing her chin between her knees. Staring off into the distance she responded. “Looking back I think that the only victory I wanted was you, not a victory over you. We were enemies in a war but so many of the times we fought I was desperately trying to avoid killing you. I only wanted to capture you, to bring you back to The Horde. I hoped we could become friends again. I needed that so bad. I just wish I hadn't been so damn insecure. Thanks to Shadow Weaver I grew up dreading the day when you would realized I wasn't as good as you. I kept expecting you to realize it and abandon me. When you left The Horde that was my fear coming true. I thought you had finally accepted how inferior I was and ditched me...”

Adora began to talk but was silenced when Catra put one of her hands in a, “stop,” motion. Apparently this was something she had been holding back for a long time and didn't want to stop once it started.

“So much of my childhood I felt like there were only two peoples' approval that I needed. Yours and Shadow Weaver. Once you joined The Rebellion, in my head, it slowly became angrier and angrier. I realized you weren't coming back and I decided the only approval I could get would be Shadow Weaver's. Then she escaped The Horde and made her way to Bright Moon. With you. The only two people that I cared about had abandoned me to join my enemies. Then there was the alternate universe thing you told me about where I tried to destroy everything. Looking back I think I have begun to understand what the other me was thinking.

I think back to the time me and Glimmer were on Prime's ship and I had a moment of realization. All those times I tried to catch you and bring you back to me kind of made sense and seemed like it could make my life so much better. When that seemed less and less likely, destroying everything wasn't a great solution but since I wouldn't be around anymore either, it wasn't like I would need to face loneliness anymore. I could deal with a universe where neither of us existed, I could deal with one where we were together again, and I could even have handled a universe where you beat me and I died in the conflict. But I looked at what Horde Prime was capable of and didn't know how far he would go to beat you and realized that a universe in which I lived but you didn't wasn't a universe I could handle. I think part of the reason I was so crazy before that was I knew I had feelings about you but didn't know what they were. I think talking to Sparkles while we were on Prime's ship is where I finally began to realize it. Knowing you would be coming for her and thinking what could happen to you. There were moments in my life before that made me scared, but as your ship appeared on his censors I became terrified.”

Adora remained quiet just in case there was more and based upon a little sniffing knew Catra had been thinking this through for a long time and it meant a lot to get it out. She wanted to give her the time to do so. With a few moments of silence passing with Catra not moving it seemed she said what she needed to say so Adora scooted a bit closer and put an arm around Catra. Taking her into a light hug Adora just sighed, “Confusion make sense. The Horde and Shadow Weaver didn't exactly teach us all about love. Hordak was all bout being tough and scary. Shadow Weaver used manipulation to get whatever she could from everyone around her. But in the end I guess I can call myself the real winner between us if it helps you. I feel like I won every time I remember how wonderful my girlfriend is anyway.”

Catra slid down slightly and rested her head on Adora's shoulder, a light purr beginning to be heard. She looked up at Adora as they held on to one another, “Such a cheesy thing to say, you always need to be the hero don't you?”

Adora kissed Catra on her forehead, “Like Swift Wind says, what's the point of being a hero and having powers if you can't use it to help your friends?”

They stayed like that for a little bit before Catra sighed. “Bow will probably be up soon and we'll need to head to see Entrapta and the Hordaks soon. Should we get up and head back to the castle?”

“In a while, I doubt he's even gotten away from Glimmer and sneaked out of the castle yet. We can't even head to Dryl until he does. Let's just enjoy this moment a little longer.:

As they walked back to the castle a familiar voice rang out from above, “Did somebody ask for Bow and Swift Wind?” Adora and Catra turned around as the winged unicorn landed on the bridge behind them, blowing up a small bit of dirt and dust forcing the women to shield their eyes.

“I'm not sure anybody has. Ever. Adora, what's a swift wind? Sounds like a euphemism for a fart or something. Love that talking horse thing though, but I must say the rainbow wings are a bit much..”

Swift Wind gave an over-the-top fake laugh as Bow climbed off his back and went over to the others. Catra and Swift Wind had taken to friendly teasing ever since the Friendship Squad returned. The last few days they kept acting as if they had no idea who the other was. 

“Says the one who needs to waste time walking everywhere she goes,” he said as he smiled at Catra. So everyone ready? Entrapta says she and the Hordaks got everything they could find from the Fright Zone into Dryl and her machine is ready to go.”

Bow stood nervously, giving his back an awkward scratch as he spoke, “Honestly the sooner we're able to try this the better. Hiding it from Glimmer has been horrible.”

Talking about the plan always made him uneasy but Catra noticed he was even more troubled than normal. “You told her didn't you?”

Bow looked at her and raised his voice a little bit with an emphatic response response, “No, of course not. If I told her what we were working on, do you think she'd still be in the castle?” He was quiet for another couple seconds before a continued suspicious stare from Catra broke him and he dropped his head slightly, “Well, I didn't really tell her. She obviously noticed I was behaving differently since arriving back on Etheria. She finally cornered me this morning as I was sneaking out. I just told her that we were working on a surprise for the feast Micah's planning to welcome us back. You know, something for her. Not really a lie, just not the whole truth. She tried to get me to spill the rest but I just couldn't. I know how high her hopes would get if she knew what we were planning. If it doesn't work out, it'd kill her.”

A couple of small tears rolled down his cheek as he thought about what they were planning and if they failed. Today was the big day that had been planned for a long time and his nerves were beginning to get to him. Adora walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Don't worry Bow. We have you, we have Entrapta, we have two Hordaks, all the data we gathered exploring the universe, and what we were able to recover from The Horde's files. A bunch of old Horde tech left over from the war and other parts of the universe we could scrounge up. Every resource we can manage. This'll work. I heard even your dads and a couple of your brothers have been pitching in with some of the research.”

Catra jumped onto Swift Wind's back, “Don't forget we also have a super-powered alien warrior with a magic sword too. Now you all climb up so I can give this 'flying,' thing the horse was mentioning a try.: She locked eyes with Swift Wind for a moment, “Unless you don't think you can handle carrying all of us that is.”

Swift Wind looked back at Catra and gave her a smile, “A renowned hero like me will have no problem at all. Of course if you help me find a few apples when we get to Dryl that would help.”

“Well, If it's in Dryl they will probably very tiny apples,” Catra said as she gave him a light, affectionate neck rub.

“Sounds good to me, they tend to be sweeter. Anyways, all aboard!”

Bow and Adora climbed on and with a quick leap and flap of his wings, Swift Wind and his friends began their flight to Dryl.

When they arrived they were amazed to see what Entrapta had built up in only a week. A huge machine, easily 20 meters in diameter was resting in the valley below the city. Most of the body contained a massive, bowl-like platform. On opposite sides were metal pillars and attached to the pillars were a series of large, arched metal rods. Surrounding most of the platform were a half dozen control panels all connected to each other and to the middle bowl with an intertwining, complex array of cables and wiring. Each of them were making slight humming and beeping noises as Entrapta, Hordak, and Wrong Hordak moved around from panel to panel making sure everything was ready. As Swift Wind landed none of the three came over to welcome them. In fact Wrong Hordak was the only one who looked up and that was just to give them all a rather melancholy smile. It didn't take the arriving quartet long to realize something was wrong.

Hordak and Entrapta were too busy working and doing calculations to respond to any questions. Wrong Hordak was usually the warmest of the three but he responded to Bow's request for answers by looking down harder at his control panel as if one small window suddenly became the most important thing in the world. After a few awkward moments Entrapta finally hair-walked over to the group and gave them each a short hug, “there's a big problem.”

Entrapta, Catra, Bow, and Swift Wind all formed a half-circle around her and listened closely. Bow had his head down and appeared like he was about to cry. Adora placed a hand on his shoulder and Swift Wind wrapped a wing around his back. They all wanted to do this for Glimmer but obviously nobody wanted it more than him. “We can't do it can we?”

Entrapta took a moment to get closer to him and held his hand comfortingly, locking eyes to show him she still had hope. “No, no, no, I didn't say that. It's just become a lot more complicated that I hoped. A bit worse than I expected though. There is actually a tiny bit of good news actually.”

Bow lifted his head up and closed his eyes for a second, readying himself for whatever was coming. Then trying to show a look of confidence and assertiveness that he didn't feel, he opened them. “Tell us everything.”

Entrapta led them back over to one of the control panels and showed them one of the windows, “this is our good news. The universe that she locked herself in when getting the sword was pretty much a vast, empty, barren infinite realm of pretty much nothingness.” She pointed to a small, faint, reddish light. “That is a life sign. It is confirmation that Queen Angella is still alive. It's also the problem. Her life signature is extremely weak and to be honest she is nearly dead.”

Bow responded with the most serious tone they had ever heard from him, “How much time do we have?”

“Hard to say. To be honest I don't think air was an issue for her or she'd already be gone. Everyone says she seems immortal but even her body requires food and water. The magic of the runestone within her is probably all that's keeping her alive at this point and there isn't much left. The longer we wait, the weaker her life sign and magic signatures become. At this point without assistance it will be almost impossible to accurately lock onto her location. The way this machine works is that it will basically drag part of the other universe into ours and hold it. It's 20.84 meters in diameter and that's how much of it we can pull in. The best scans we have limit the area Queen Angella could be in to about a 53 kilometer radius sphere.”

He didn't have the math skills of Entrapta or her crew but he still knew that was well under a 0.01 percent chance of picking the correct area. “So our chances are almost non-existent.”

“And opening multiple portals between two dimensions in rapid succession can cause both of them to destabilize and collapse,” was the response from Hordak as he continued looking over the controls in front of him, obvious frustration showing.

Bow's attempts and confidence were now collapsing. “So we've got almost zero chance and one opportunity. We can't just leave her there to die. We need to try.”

This time Wrong Hordak spoke up, “but we have a possible alternate detection method that would likely be far more effective. These scans are more dependent upon life signs however her magical essence would likely be much stronger, if we can scan for that we have a much better chance to get a firm lock on her location. Problem with that is we would need an active, living sample of the magical energy for our scanners if we are to locate Angella within a satisfactory margin of error.. Preferably someone with a connection to the same runestone.”

Bow facepalmed, “So we need Glimmer...”

He was interrupted by Entrapta, “Not quite.” She directed everyone over to a smaller round platform about two meters across sitting as far away from the control panels as possible while still being next to the larger platform. “This device will drain a lot of magic in the scanning process and to be honest I don't think even Glimmer would have enough to allow for a total scan. So we would need several princesses with a connection to that runestone...”

“or someone who had a lot more magical power and a connection to all of the runestones. Like the former key to the Heart of Etheria.” Adora completed her thought.

With a serious, sad look Entrapta sighed, “Exactly what we were thinking. We created a scanning device, problem is it will be painful. With the limited time window it will need to scan you at the cellular level and the scanning will cause a lot of your cells to vibrate.”

At this point none of the Best friend squad present knew what that meant so Wrong Hordak filled them in, “that means it will start off as mild discomfort but as it scans you more and more, it will cause your body to get hotter and hotter. Basically cooking you from the inside.”

Hordak looked up from his current work, “To be honest because of your connection to her runestone and as you're She-ra, you're the only princess with a chance of surviving long enough for us to acquire a strong enough scan to hone on her. And with that I'm not positive you will be able to do it.”

Adora felt a tear fall down her right cheek and her face morphed in a look of serious determination as she turned to Catra who surprisingly had a warm smile. “Don't even bother asking. Thanks but I've long given up on stopping you from playing the hero.” She stretched up and lightly kissed Adora on the forehead. “I won't even ask you to come back to me. I trust you not to leave me alone. Just don't hurt yourself too bad, it's your turn to make the bed tomorrow.”

Adora gave Catra a sarcastic smile and they gave each other a short hug. Within a few seconds Adora had vanished and the tall, golden-haired princess of power She-ra had taken her place. Entrapta clapped her hands firmly together and looked back at the rest. “Problem number one taken care of. Now the other one. Considering the data we have collected and the likely state of her health, it will likely make it impossible for Queen Angella to leave by her own power. It's highly likely she won't even be aware we're there. Someone will need to go in and pull her out.”

“Say no more, I'll be in and out in two shakes of a horse's tail. Most notably my own.”

Entrapta looked at him and didn't look excited at the idea, “I don't think that would work. There will be a rather powerful, rotating electric field surrounding the platform while it's holding the foreign realm in ours. Your strength would be great but you probably won't fit. We need someone with the strength to get her out but nimble enough to avoid shocking themselves too badly. In addition to that we will likely need to provide Angella some form of protection from electrocution as she exits the field. In poor health like hers a powerful enough electric shock could be fatal. We designed a special electricity-resistant blanket to wrap her in.”

“And I suppose hands would be much better than hooves with that.” When Entrapta said the word nimble all eyes quickly glanced at Catra who looked over at She-ra and the rest of her friends. “Wrong Hordak, do me a favor. Keep an eye on Adora while I'm in there.”

He smiled up at Catra, “I will be a bit occupied making sure the link is stable but should be able to at least monitor her somewhat if Bow will help with some of the controls. As always I shall do what I can to protect you, siblings.”

With the plan set up everyone got into position and all too soon Adora was standing on the smaller platform while Catra held the blanket under her arm waiting for the moment. With a loud hum the machine began whirring and repeated crackling noises sounded as it warmed up and electricity occasionally flew around the device. Catra kept waiting for her cue while keeping her eyes fixed firmly on Adora while not liking what she saw. Almost immediately the golden glow of She-ra had diminished noticeably and She-ra's skin was red and covered in sweat. She was breathing hard and it didn't take long before it appeared standing had become difficult for her. Within twenty seconds she had reformed her sword into a long staff and and placed it onto the floor of her platform. She was now holding onto that as a way to remain standing. Swift Wind had taken the role of nurse and stood by Adora and every twenty seconds or so asked She-ra if she could go on. Catra appreciated the horse's concern but knew the question was pointless; so long as Adora could talk she would insist they continue. 

It took about three minutes before Hordak gave any indication that they were closing in on the target but once he did, everything began to form. “Almost there! Once the pocket stabilizes there won't be much time! We'll have twenty seconds at most for you to get in and out. Do you understand Catra?!”

While he was the one talking Catra's eyes never left She-ra. Her legs were now visibly shaking and her hair was looking somehow wet and dry at the same time. Covered in sweat on the outside but becoming dry and wilted in the inside. There was no need to tell her to hurry, seeing the state of Adora, Catra wasn't planning to be take half a second more than she had to. About 8 seconds after Hordak's statement it happened. A series of diamond-shaped crystals began appearing in the air over the platform. Then with a bright flash, suddenly it was filled with a total empty, white void with the exception of one long orange and light blue lump lying on the ground. 

Catra was waiting on the front of her paws and when Entrapta told her to go, the, “g” had barely left her mouth before Catra jumped into the zone. With the way Adora was looking and the limited time frame, Catra had decided not to bother worrying about protecting herself and felt a harsh jolt as electricity struck her firmly on the right shoulder on the way in. It hurt and she was vaguely aware of smelling her own burned skin but didn't give it a second thought. 

At a full speed, all-fours sprint she made it to Angella quick enough and tossed the blanket over her. She carefully rolled her and part of the blanket over to cover up as much of the queen's body as possible before lifting her up, a bit disturbed by how light the woman's body was. She was definitely dehydrated and malnourished. They had never gotten along and had been bitter enemies but a part of Catra wanted to tear up imagining how long she had to have been suffering. Even at her worst she couldn't imagine putting her most hated enemies through that pain. But she was still too worried about Adora to dwell on it. Looking at her now Adora was now tightly grasping the staff holding her up, leaning forward and it seemed as if the stick was the only thing keeping her upright. 

With all the strength and speed Catra had she began running out of the pocket alternate dimension. She ran directly to the side of Adora and jumped out. As she passed by the portal where her love was standing and the second Catra was sure her and the bundle in her arms were out of the portal, she reached out with her feet and, with a loud scream, kicked She-ra solidly on the butt causing her to fall off of the platform and land on the grass beside it.

With Adora off the platform and Catra and Angella safely lying on Etherian grass, Entrapta began shutting the machine down while Hordak ran to check on Adora and Wrong Hordak looked after the queen. Wrong Hordak had actually taken to studying cooking and medicine since they left Etheria on their journey so he could better care for his siblings. While Hordak didn't know a great deal concerning medicine, his time with cloning gave him some knowledge of biology. 

After a few seconds Catra began crawling over to Adora and put a hand on her back. “You okay?”

“I feel like I just ran as fast as I could for five days straight without any food or rest while carrying a tank in each arm but other than that? Other than that I feel like I just got kicked in the butt and fell on my face.” She rolled over so she was now sitting on the grass, “Seriously, did you need to kick me right there?”

After a little while and some more checks the Hordaks had somber expressions. Wrong Hordak spoke and explained everything as Hordak carried Angella to a large, brown canvas tent that had been set up a ways away from the portal. “The good news is She-ra should be just fine. She'll need some time to recover her magic and cool her body down. I recommend resting in the tent with some shade and cold water. Angella on the other hand seems to be in the later stages of organ failure. It will likely be a couple hours left for her right now and her chances of survival at this point are non-existent.”

Hearing that Catra stood up and put her hand out to Adora, “Come on hero, let's get your healing magic hands over there.” Adora looked up and didn't say anything. She just took Catra's hand and pulled herself up. A quick hug and they began to walk towards the tent but found Wrong Hordak in their way. 

“I'm sorry but I cannot allow that. Adora's body is too damaged and She-ra's magic too drained in order to heal her. If She-ra pushes herself much harder, it could just mean we wind up losing two patients.” 

Adora stood frozen at this news. She tried to look defiant and stared Wrong Hordak in the eyes with determination but saw he was not going to budge. He was on the verge of crying himself but he also wasn't willing to back down if it meant Adora would be hurt. Feeling hopeless, She-ra held tight onto Catra and began crying into her shoulder. It was just unfair to get this close and lose. In the back of her mind Adora considered the possibility that Angella was already gone and thought bringing her body back so they could at least have a funeral was at least an unpleasant compromise. But bringing her back alive only to die with them was just an intolerable, “worst case scenario.” Being so close to saving Angella and the thought of seeing the look on Glimmer's face when her mother returned had made Adora feel so good. Being this close but not close enough absolutely broke her heart. 

Bow responded to the news by dropping to all fours and openly crying. Swift Wind laid down on the ground beside him and put a wing over him while Entrapta gave him a supportive hug. “I'm so sorry. If I had done my research a little faster...”

“No, it isn't your fault. This was a long shot to begin with and a miracle we even got as far as we did. I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am that we tried.”

With a brief hug and a pat on Adora's head Catra responded, “What if She-ra heals the queen slowly?”

Wrong Hordak's expression suddenly softened and his curiosity piqued, “What did you have in mind.”

“Well when She-ra uses her powers a lot of the time she just goes all out. No hesitation, no holding back. She wants to do everything all at once. I know that all too well and used to take advantage of it all the time. What if she just uses a little of her healing power at a time? Instead of healing Angella all at once could she do it one organ at a time or something like that?”

Wrong Hordak looked at the tent then back at his friends. Bow heard the suggestion and looked up with a sliver of hope returning to his teary face. “I suppose it's possible. Without any water though her body will just weaken quickly back to the state it's in now. BOW! I'll need you to stay by her bedside. She isn't conscious so we'd need to give her water a few drops at a time. With Adora's healing if we're able to re-hydrate her until she can regain awareness and drink for herself it just might be possible!”

Bow leaped to his feet and all of a sudden the optimistic, never-say-die Bow was back. He ran over and gave Wrong Hordak a quick hug. “Yes! I will do whatever you need! Just tell me.”

“All you need to do is give her a few drops of water every thirty seconds or so. She can't swallow consciously so it'll need to be slow enough that it won't cause any choking. And for you two,” he turned to Catra, “I will need you to look after Adora for me. Make sure she drinks plenty of water. If Adora looks like she is pushing herself too hard or goes too far, pull her out of the tent before she hurts herself. Her body is weakened and overheated so cooling her down is top priority for you. If Adora pushes too hard I will pull all of you out of that tent in an instant. Deal?”

Adora jumped off of Catra and joined Bow in hugging Wrong Hordak. He had at least given them hope. Catra grabbed Adroa and smiled, “You're welcome.”

With a teary smile Adora kissed Catra on the cheek and smiled, “Who says I'm the hero? Like I said earlier, your ideas are why you're the amazing one. Now let's go. The sooner she starts healing the less healing she'll need.

Wrong Hordak stood in their way though. He waved for them to follow as he walked and spoke, “One more small thing friends and this is just for Queen Angella's sake. If she comes to, her body and her mind will be in a weak state. Any great emotional revelations could cause her to fall into a state of shock. Catra, try to stay out of sight until she's stronger. Since Entrapta was still considered part of The Horde when she went away, Angella may still see her as an enemy and her presence could also cause stress. Me and Hordak would obviously have a similar issue so we'll remain outside the tent. If she comes to, try to hold her up so she can actually drink some water herself. 

She will likely want to know how long she's been gone, the state of the war, about her daughter and any number of any things. Your goal should be only to answer the questions that will help her sleep peacefully after a couple cups of water and maybe a very weak vegetable broth.” They were now outside the tent, “After she drinks those encourage her to sleep more, hopefully with some liquid and nutrients in her system she'll finally be able to have a peaceful, restorative sleep and regain some strength. That should go a long way towards her recovery if it's possible and take strain off of Adora.”

It was still late in the morning but soon enough Bow and She-ra were sitting on either side of Angella. For several hours Bow sat, hovering over the queen with an eye dropper helping to hydrate her one drop at a time. On the other side the glowing hands of She-ra slowly hovered over her and moved from one location to another. Catra occasionally putting a hand on her shoulder asking her to slow down or holding a glass of water to her lips. 

Periodically Wrong Hordak would make sure she was still out before sneaking in to check her vitals and see her progress. By mid-afternoon he responded with a satisfied smile. With a quiet whisper he congratulated them, “Well done siblings. Her skin has more color and her heart and breathing have gotten much stronger. You are doing great.”

For a while after that Catra's warnings to Adora were the only words spoken and her heading to the nearby river were the only movement. Catra had come up with the idea of throwing a cold, wet towel on Adora's head and neck to help cool her down. The tent was tense and everybody was deadly serious until shortly after sundown and lamps were now providing their only light and Bow moved to give Angella a few more drops of water and saw that her eyes were open. 

She still wasn't able to speak very loudly but she locked eyes with him and hoarsely mouthed the name of her daughter. Bow wanted to stand up and cheer but knew this wasn't the moment for it. His job wasn't done. He jumped off his chair and knelt down beside the bed, “She's at the castle, alive and well.”

She looked at Bow and closed her eyes to gave a brief prayer of thanks before looking back to Bow. She looked like she wanted to ask more but Bow cut her off, “and the war is over. We won. Adora, Perfuma, Mermista, and all the princesses are fine and their lands are safe. Bright Moon has never been safer.”

Catra quietly sneaked out of the tent while Bow helped her sit up just long enough to drink some more but it didn't take very long before she fell back asleep. This time though with a happy, content smile on her face. Bow quickly ran around afterward to tell everyone, providing hugs and ceaseless praises and thanks to everyone who helped. Last but not least he ended up by the river with Catra who had used the moment of hiding to re-dampen the towel she had been using. He ran into the river where she was standing and gave her the warmest, tightest hug of all. “Thank you so much. Wrong Hordak said that she's going to be just fine. He says Adora probably doesn't even need to keep up the healing up much longer and Angella will still make a full recovery!”

“Please, don't save her just to suffocate me,” Catra chided as she struggled to get out of his grasp. When he let her go they just stood in the water for a second. “So it looks like everything worked out. Still planning on the announcement at the welcome party?”

Bow smiled, “Yeah, me and Glimmer were planning to announce it with King Micah and my dads there. Imagine how happy she'll be to have her mom at the party too?”

Catra just looked at the tent and laughed, “Do you realize that you're announcing the queen's getting married and now that might only be the third biggest news you're delivering?”

Bow laughed too, “I hadn't even realized that. Thank you though, none of this would have been possible without you and Adora.”

Catra blushed a little but quickly let her pride swipe the embarrassment away. She turned away from the tent and Bow to just stare away into the sky for a moment, “You know, for a long time I never understood her need to do everything for everybody. It wasn't until Horde Prime's ship that I figured it out. When I sent Glimmer to you guys on the ship I thought about what he would do to me and I was beyond terrified. But it was the first time I really sacrificed myself in any real way for someone else and as I thought about having made Adora safe and saving Glimmer I felt a sense of pride that I had never before felt. It was weird. Facing Horde Prime after that there was only one thing that gave me strength. The only thing that allowed me to act brave was the feeling of contentment of having done something good in my life.”

She turned to Bow and shrugged, “Before that I kind of thought Adora was just going around saving and protecting others because she was looking for a chance to toss me away and upgrade friends. To somebody better than me.” Catra began crying a little as Bow reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, “but after going all out to save someone I finally understood why Adora did it. I was finally able to consider the possibility Adora wasn't just waiting for the chance to throw me away.”

She pulled Bow's arm off her shoulder and smiled, “But Angella wouldn't have been stuck in that zone without me in the first place. As far as I'm concerned what I did is just fix one more of the problems I caused during the dark time.”

Bow grinned as they began walking back towards the tent, “Well as far as I'm concerned that Catra went away long ago. And in a weird way you will give them something they never had before. Micah went missing before Glimmer was old enough to really remember him. If we hadn't gone to Beast Island to rescue Entrapta, we never would have even known he was still alive. You saved Glimmer from Prime's ship, and now you've helped bring back Angella. Every person in the family wouldn't be here without your actions. At the Welcome Feast the family will all be together for the first time ever and in many ways it's all thanks to you.”

When they got back to the tent Swift Wind was standing outside offering them a bucket of apples and smiling, “Wrong Hordak says Queen Angella has begun recovering much faster than he expected. He thinks the planet's magic is helping to strengthen the magic within her and helping her heal faster. With Adora's healing she may even be able to walk soon! But if you all don't eat, you won't be able to walk when she does. Here's some Dryl tiny apples. Eat up.”

A couple hours before sunrise Angella finally began to stir again. Bow had fallen asleep in his chair and Catra had nodded off while sitting on the grass, leaning against the chair Adora sat on.. When she woke up and saw the exhausted and worn look from She-ra, Angella put her hands on Adora's and smiled, “I think you've done enough dear, please rest. I feel fine.”

She-ra looked for a moment like she was going to protest but instead smiled at Angella and at long last allowed the She-ra form to drop and went back to being Adora. She spoke quietly to avoid waking Bow, “So Bow says the war is over and Glimmer is fine?”

Adora simply nodded and to her surprise watched as Angella began to swing her legs over the cot she slept on and waved her over, “Please, I've slept too long and haven't spoken to anyone in a long time. Help me walk and talk with me if it isn't too much trouble.”

With a lot of hesitation Adora smiled and reached down to help prop the queen up. She hated to be treated like a baby and imagined a woman with as much pride as Angella would hate it even more. As she hesitated Angella inferred her concerns and almost laughed. “Looks like it's pretty late and It sounds like we're in the middle of nowhere. I think my reputation can handle being held up by a crowd of nobody.”

That put Adora at ease and walked quietly walked over to her. Leaning down to help Angella start the arduous task of standing up she whispered, “but if we leave the tent, I should warn you a lot of things have changed in Etheria.”

“I was queen for a long time and fought a long war. I've seen a lot of things in my time, I think I'm ready for anything you can tell me.”

“I'll take that as a challenge,” Adora whispered back. “Let me show you one of the things your daughter did.” As she said that she led Angella over to the door of the tent and opened it up to the night sky, leaving Angella leaning against Adora in stunned shock.

For several minutes she just stood looking up in wonder with a tear or two running down her cheek, “Stars? You say Glimmer did this?”

Adora pulled her tighter and looked up with her, “this is just the beginning.” The two continued to walk around, leaning on one another as Adora filled Queen Angella in on many of the things that happened. The portal back to the universe, the true size of The Horde's army, traveling through space, the truth about the First Ones, Entrapta and Scorpia's redemptions, Hordak reforming, and they carried on talking by themselves and walking together until they noticed a sleepy-eyed Catra stumble out of the tent as sunrise was approaching. 

There was a long, silent, awkward moment as Angella and Catra stared at one another. It took a moment for the fear and anger to melt away but thinking of the stories Adora had shared it did. Catra slowly walked up and was about to ask forgiveness but was silenced before she got started, “Adora told me everything including what you did to save Glimmer aboard Horde Prime's ship. Even if you were just trying to save Adora, my daughter is alive and safe because of you.” She stood up independently for the first time briefly before leaning forward to hug Catra. “I won't lie and some things that occurred between us will never be forgotten. Some I'm not certain I can ever forgive. But my daughter is alive and safe because of you and there is nothing more important to me. Adora says you have changed and I will do my best to put the past behind us.” Part of her wanted to add, 'do not make me regret it,' but she though better of it.

Catra awkwardly patted her on the back and looked over to Adora who shook her head. “Not Micah,” was the phrase mouthed back. So apparently the Queen still had some news to learn. Wrong Hordak had recommended against sharing that information still as it could have been a powerful shock. He recommended waiting until they left for the feast to give her every minute of rest to regather strength that she could. The welcome feast was later that night and Angella became positively radiant with joy every time the conversation shifted back to it. When she wasn't around they joked about bringing in some ropes so Swift Wind and She-ra could pull Angella and Glimmer apart once the hug started, convinced she wasn't planning to let go any time soon.

Angella took a short rest so her and Adora could get some sleep but soon enough they all woke up with Adora and Angella noticeably more energized and healthy. Everyone had gotten dressed in formal clothes. Catra was a little amused by Bow's tuxedo which looked quite a bit like the one she wore to the Princess Prom in the Kingdom of Snows. The big differences being the bow tie was white and the undershirt was a light shade of pink. He had even tucked his shirt into his pants and was covering his abs.

Both Catra and Angella looked at him with odd looks. Catra just raised her eyebrows while Angella clucked her tongue a couple times and walked up close and pretended to see if the tie was straight. “Interesting choice of colors, I can't help but feel as if I should change. I don't want to be there with someone wearing the same outfit after all.”

Bow smiled as he acknowledged the pink of his shirt perfectly matched the shade of pink that made up her dress. “If you think that's bad wait until you see Glimmer; she'll be wearing a dress that is the same color as yours with a white shawl around her neck. She wanted us to coordinate and wear colors that matched your usual fashion. The white we both are wearing is supposed to represent your wings or as Glimmer calls them, “the wings that saved us all.”

Angella took a moment to process that idea, standing open-mouthed in a slightly undignified silence before shaking her head, “when did she become such a sentimentalist?”

It was a rhetorical question but Bow had noticed the change himself and answered anyway. “Since the war ended. She gave so much of her time to The Rebellion that once The Horde went away and Horde Prime was beaten she had to figure out who she was I think. She always says she'll be thrilled to be half the queen you were.”

On the other hand Catra didn't really want to dress up all that much but did so only to quiet Adora's pleas. Catra insisted on wearing black so Adora found a shop selling a simple, plain, knee-length black dress and added a golden chain belt around the middle to give it a little bit of color. Catra on the other hand had gone all out and found herself a long, black, slinky dress with long, sleek, black gloves. She was even wearing silver earrings with small red hearts. From her look and body language it became clear almost immediately that teasing Adora was her a big part of her plans for the night. Of course this wouldn't be the first party where Catra teased her all night long.

“Don't blow up the castle this time please,” Adora sighed as she climbed up on Swift Wind.

Catra climbed up in front of Adora before reaching back to grab her head and guide it to her shoulder, leaning back so her back was lightly pressed against Adora's body before giving her girlfriend a peck on the cheek,“No promises.”

Bow remained on the ground and looked for a moment at Angella, “Are you sure you're strong enough to fly all way to Bright Moon?”

She looked off towards home, “I have no idea in all honesty. The magic of the planet is stronger than I recall and makes me feel stronger. I feel like I can but not sure if I will have the endurance. After hearing everything you all have done alongside Glimmer however, I feel inspired to try. Just promise to keep an eye on me in case I falter.”

Bow bowed his head and replied, “Of course.”

Bow climbed up with his bow in hand and his net arrow ready to go just in case it was needed and soon enough they were all in the air heading for Bright Moon.

Shortly after taking off Adora yelled back to Bow who was riding behind her, “I can't believe we haven't told her about Micah yet.”

Bow smiled but Catra responded, “Yeah, but she asked us to not tell anyone in Bright Moon about that she was coming back. There's something funny about her planning to surprise everyone but doesn't realize she's getting the biggest one of all.”

None of the trio really bothered trying to remain too quiet as they talked as it seemed Angella was kind of in her own world at the moment. One of the things Bow always considered an interesting difference between Glimmer and her mother was the use of their powers. Up until recently Glimmer had teleported anywhere and everywhere. Even before fully connected to the runestone and her powers were much more limited she was very loose with her powers. There were even times he saw her teleport just to avoid walking down a staircase and she didn't just teleport to the bottom. She went down one at a time, teleporting step-by-step. Angella on the other hand had a much deeper well of magic and powers yet Bow could scarcely recall her using them unless there was an emergency. He felt he could count the number of times he saw her fly with the fingers of one hand.

Now though was a totally different story. She was flying and it was obvious that this was much more an endeavor of joy and pleasure than testing limits and exercising her body. After the magic was released from the First Ones' machinations whole new genres of plant and animal life had begun to spring up and this was the first time she was able to see any of it. When she wasn't taking a moment to fly over some strange, amazing, new creature she was performing loop-de-loops and barrel rolls while being enthusiastically cheered on by Swift Wind. 

Angella wasn't sure how much was caused by Wrong Hordak's medical treatment and how much was caused by the more powerful magic permeating the planet but she was regaining strength far faster than she ever could have hoped. Much of it also seemed to be the result of all the good news she had received. Glimmer, Bow, Castaspella, Adora, and so many of her loved ones safe and happy. The world at peace. Former mortal enemies like Hordak and Catra had become allies. Magic now flowed freely and had created unknown beauty across Etheria. Every once in a while she would fly upside down to look up as evening faded into night as stars began to appear. All those years ago when she flew into the portal and threw the sword back to Adora things seemed so bleak. But now...

Whatever caused her to feel so strong, it was definitely the news that made her so happy. When they left Dryl she made a deliberate effort to fly carefully and conservatively at first. Remaining close to Swift Wind and her would-be rescuers if she began to fall. But with the sky going dark, few witnesses, and the pure and unrestrained joy in her heart she found it hard to maintain her queenly decorum. She had a long night ahead of her and her cheeks were already sore from smiling as she thought of the others expected at the feast. 

It was actually difficult for her not to fly faster but she didn't want to leave the others behind. Catra of all people had also convinced her that the little prank she had idly suggested was a brilliant idea and encouraged her to do it. Swift Wind made it much easier to accomplish so instead she amused herself with flying and enjoying herself in a way that she hadn't done for what seemed like decades.

Soon enough though she saw the two mountain peaks that she had called home for so long. As she heard the river and smelled the flowers something in the air suddenly had an air of familiarity that caused her to fly closer to her safety net of Bow and Swift Wind. Flying too carelessly when you're eyes are misty probably wasn't a good idea. Soon after that she heard the low murmurs of those gathered in the castle. They flew over a small carriage being pulled by Emily with Entrapta, Hordak, and Wrong Hordak inside. They had been rolling a bit slowly so Entrapta could finish reading one of the books she had borrowed from Bow's dads. She slowed down and let Swift Wind catch up to her then looked over at everyone. “Ready?” In answer Swift Wind picked up his speed and after putting a little bit of distance between him and Angella began singing.

“...Then Netossa tossed her nets and Spinnerella spinned. But the enemies kept coming and all the princesses screamed WE NEED SWIFTWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND!” With the finale Swift Wind flew into the castle, singing much more loudly then he normally did and flapping his wings much more than usual. Because of that of course almost all eyes were drawn to him and the three passengers on his back. A few of the guests decided to give his arrival and the song a polite round of applause led by Bow's dads Lance and George.

In fact there were only three sets of eyes not looking at their entrance. The back of Glimmer's chair was to where they entered as was Micah's so they were looking in the opposite direction out of simple coincidence. Glimmer was a bit angry and embarrassed that Bow and the others hadn't made it to the feast on time considering their announcement so she decided to pretend she hadn't heard Swift Wind enter. Bow could come up to him and apologize first.

Micah on the other hand had noticed enough of her mother's personality in their time together to be wary of the occasional bit of passive-aggressive angst. Those moments could be a bit dangerous with Angella and Glimmer had so far seemed an exceedingly good student in that regard. As a result he decided to ignore everything behind him as much as possible until Glimmer and the rest were smiling. Looking at the people sitting closest at that moment and desperately needing to start a conversation with someone found a perfect candidate. “Seahawk! You mentioned earlier that you had some tips for writing shanties on the spot. Could you share some with me? It seems fascinating.”

Of course a chance to extol his singing knowledge to the great King Micah wasn't something he would pass up and he laughed, “Of course your highness, what good is a life if one cannot sing about the joys it brings you. First thing you must consider all of the things that come up routinely in your day. You need to think of all the words related and then words that rhyme with them. I spend my time sailing so 'ship,' is important. Then you need words that rhyme with ship. Dip trip, sip, lip, you get the idea. Of course not just ship as boat, galley, and vessel. You'll want words that rhyme with those too. A strong vocabulary with in depth knowledge of synonyms is essential!”

Micah was only half paying attention but still appreciated Seahawk helping him, “Fascinating. You've put a lot of thought into this.”

“Indeed. Song goes hand-in-hand with ADVENTURE...”

They continued having their largely one-sided conversation. Bow and Adora slid off of Swift Wind, simultaneously putting their hands up in a “v” shape and yelling a loud and boisterous “thank you all for coming,” at the same time. The moment they finished though Catra spoke extremely quickly with a cheeky grin, “Adora catch me.” Immediately after that she deliberately fell off the horse's back. Adora didn't expect that and was way out of position to do catch her so she ended up getting her hands under Catra but too late to keep herself from falling onto the stone floor. She landed hard on the stone but was able to keep Catra from hurting herself. Adora looked a bit angry but Catra just looked at her with a smug smile before giving Adora a light kiss on the tip of her nose. “We needed a distraction right? Looks like all eyes are on us.”

The only other eyes that weren't distracted by the arrival of Swift Wind and his passengers belonged to one of the palace guards flanking the stairs leading up to the throne. While almost everyone had their eyes on the magical flying horse and the heroes on his back, she thought she caught a slight bit of motion out of the corner of her eyes. With every bit of stealth and subtlety she could manage, Angella flew onto the throne and looked at the hall. She looked down to notice one of the guards looking up at her with wide-eyed, open-mouthed disbelief and shock. Angella's only response was to place a finger up over her mouth and nose asking her to remain quiet she then pointed at the back of Glimmer's chair. 

It wasn't proper for a guard on duty to show emotional reactions but this was a little bit too much. She rubbed her eyes for a moment, looked away and back twice before deciding that what she thought she saw might just be real. With every bit of strength she could muster the guard nodded and turned back to her post. While not making her presence known it wasn't long before individuals started noticing her as she sat on her throne. Angella the same request to not say anything as others noticed her, pointing at Glimmer's chair as a hint as to why. She would meet their eyes and ask them to not say anything. While their were many loud gasps and Frosta nearly shouted out before Perfuma quickly put a hand over her mouth, everyone did as she asked.

More or less. While they didn't shout or say anything for many there were quickly tears that came. Slowly the conversations died down to nothing and the only sounds heard were assorted crying and Seahawk's shanty lesson. “And don't underestimate the importance of breathing when singing. The seas can be loud and making yourself heard requires a loud, booming voice. You must stand up tall with you back straight...” saying it he stood up to demonstrate and in doing so his eyes rose above Micah's chair for a moment and the rest of the lesson died in his throat as well. Mermista had already noticed Angella's presence and was waiting for Seahawk to do so. Knowing he would probably say something to give it all away she used her powers to make a little ball of water appear around his head. It wasn't much but it was enough to distort what he said. She quickly placed her hand over his mouth and whispered in his ear and he stopped trying to talk. 

Glimmer meanwhile had remained seated, stubbornly refusing to turn around until Bow came up to her to apologize for being late. As she looked around the room though it became harder to do. With so many people crying and with every eye shifting between her, Micah, and whatever was happening behind her she held out as long as she could. It didn't take long though before she gave up.

Micah was still waiting patiently until Glimmer showed signs of being in a good mood so now that the Shanty lessons had ended abruptly it was his empty plate that became interesting. He just kept his eyes firmly affixed to it, only glancing away to notice one of the things his guards had mentioned since Glimmer came back. Before leaving on their star journey apparently guards assigned to keep an eye on or protect Glimmer always had a difficult time as she teleported everywhere. As a courtesy she eventually started telling the guards where she was teleporting to or informing them before she blinked away so they could put a hand on her shoulder and come along which made it easier. The point though was she took full advantage of her ability before. 

But since returning to Etheria apparently she hadn't teleported once. Micah hadn't seen her do it. None of the guards had. He took to idly asking others spending time around her to ask. Catra and Adora just mentioned about a month ago she just stopped for some reason and when he asked Bow about it he just became evasive and started blushing. He actually planned on having Entrapta and the Hordaks look at the runestone thinking something could be wrong with that. He hoped she would teleport out of her chair and right in front of Bow. For a moment she appeared ready to do so but instead stood up and turned around like anyone else.

When Glimmer turned around she saw her friends standing in a line in front of her. As she looked at them they parted ways with Catra and Adora on one side and Bow and Swift Wind on the other. But as they moved away her eyes were drawn upwards. Between them at the top of the floating stairs was a sight that Glimmer was all too familiar with. One that she never thought she'd see again. Angella used all her willpower to try to hold the same old stern expression she usually wore when sitting there but she was failing miserably at it. 

Her smile was visible to all and a channel had formed for tears to slowly roll down both cheeks as she nonchalantly lifted her head off of her gloved hand and waved the fingers of one of her hands down at glimmer. She said, “high sweetie,” but it wasn't even audible even to herself as the words got caught in her throat.

Soon Glimmer joined the rest of the crowd in stunned silence. The only moment her eyes left the throne were to look to her left and look at her dad as if to verify what she was seeing was true. She didn't want to say anything for fear this was a wonderful dream and any loud noises, even those inside her head could wake her up. Micah had locked eyes with his daughter long enough to see that all the anger and resentment was gone and there almost seemed to be a plea for help. 

As Glimmer looked to her left Angella felt the tiniest bit of annoyance as she realized that somebody was apparently sitting in Micah's chair. It didn't last long though as she realized this was now Glimmer's hall now and she made the rules. She was completely unprepared for what came next though as the person in the chair began to rise and move into view. 

As Micah and Angella locked eyes a lot of the crying diminished as apprehension and curiosity temporarily overtook the room. The only things heard were Netossa's crying which still persisted as she clung on to Spinnerella. For several seconds that crying was the only noise heard until the quasi-silence was broken by Micah. “M-m-my Angel? Is that you?”

He stared stunned, glancing over to his daughter and she seemed just as bewildered as he felt. She seemed to be seeing the same thing. Many were waiting for the inevitable hug but it didn't come. For a brief moment Angella's crying and tears abated completely as she looked down at everyone. At her daughter. Her husband. Her sister-in-law. All the allies from the princess alliance. She even looked at her guards realizing most of them were faces she recognized. And the tone of the crying changed. It seemed more like one of heartbreak as she began crying into her hands loudly and seemingly in some sort of pain.

Both Glimmer and Micah slowly broke out of their stupors and headed towards the throne. Glimmer held back to let Micah climb up the steps and tried to reach out a hand that but it was rejected. A moment of awkward confusion permeated the air until Angella pulled her hands from her eyes again. She saw something behind Micah and with amazing speed stood up and stared intently at the entrance of the hall. By the doorway Entrapta, Hordak, and Wrong Hordak had just entered.

She stood quietly looking at them, glancing down at Catra as well. Once more her crying stopped as she fell to her hands and knees. After a moment she waved her daughter to her. When Glimmer got close enough, Angella lept at her, landing on the main floor and grasped Glimmer in a hug so tight she made an audible, “eep,” noise and had difficulty breathing for a moment. Nobody but those close by noticed but as she held Glimmer, Angella started breathing in much deeper and held her like that for nearly a full minute. 

Finally she let Glimmer go who took a moment to rub her sore ribs as Bow sneaked up on Glimmer and wrapped his arms around her waist. 

Next Angella stood up taller and stared at her husband, asking him to come closer. When he got close she jumped up to him and wrapped her arms around him. She stood there for a moment before lightly rubbing her cheek against the hairs on his beard, letting them scratch and tickle her cheek and once again breathing in deep as she held him. This went on for a while before she let him go and she stepped back to look at Micah and Gimmer together before turning her head to find Hordak. She did that and flew into the air and dove into Hordak giving him a hug as well. Not nearly as tight or long as the ones she gave Glimmer and Micah though. He was too surprised to act and as she reached in to hug him he could have fallen down had Entrapta's hair not propped him up in time. The hug didn't last long at all and there was no closeness in it.

But Glimmer, Micah, and Hordak all felt solid. Her daughter and husband actually had warm, soft bodies that smelled of cologne and perfume. She stared back across the room at Glimmer and Micah who were looking at her, back at Hordak who just looked confused, and then flew back to Glimmer and Micah with the smile and tears of joy back in full force. Arms outstretched and soon had one arm wrapped around Glimmer and another around Micah. Between sobs they heard her say, “it's all real. It's really real.”

Everyone in the crowd finally erupted in loud, tearful, boisterous applause as the three hugged it out for several minutes. They all just reveled in being close quietly until Angella regained enough composure to speak, “finally our family gets to be together. I never thought it could happen.”

“But we are together Angie, all of us together in one hug that can last as long as we want it to.”

“All four of us,” Glimmer responded. There was a puzzled moment as Micah and Angella looked down at her. (For the first time Angella realizing how much closer in height they had become). Four? Based upon their angles Micah looked over at Adora while Angella glanced over at Bow in her confusion. Glimmer realized she screwed up as this probably wasn't the best time but sighed and decided it could work. She grabbed one of each of her parent's hands and placed it on her stomach. “Not them, we already four of us in the hug.” Both Micah and Angella stared in disbelief at Glimmer's midsection.

“You don't mean-”

Bow interrupted before Micah finished, “Congratulations grandma and grandpa. Me and Glimmer decided to get married about about a year ago but wanted to wait until we got back to Etheria to announce it. A little over three weeks ago Glimmer wasn't feeling well so Wrong Hordak gave her a checkup and well...” at that point he was blushing rather brightly and began to lightly scratch his cheek.

“So I'm a grandpa?”

“I'm going to be a grandmother?”

It wasn't loud enough to hear from the room outright but soon the whispering spread and as Micah reached out and pulled Bow into the family hug another renewed wave of cheers began to spread.

Shortly after that all five of them had stopped hugging and were gathered around the table sitting around and talking about everything they could. Once in a while someone would come over to talk and congratulate them on the news. George and Lance of course were the first. Castaspella wasn't about to wait so she wedged her way in at the same time. 

Micah smiled as he saw George and Lance, “Of course we need to congratulate the other two grandpas as well. Lance didn't look like he was going to be capable of talking much as he was just in that, “so proud you can't stop crying,” state of mind so George had to do most of the verbalization. 

While a bit more coherent George's eyes weren't exactly dry. “Congratulate me? I feel the need to congratulate this man right here,” he said as he firmly clapped a hand down on his son's shoulder. “King Bow!”

Castaspella smiled at Bow as his dad's each gave him a long, strong, heartfelt hug. “That does have a rather pleasant ring to it. While Bow was hugging his dads Castaspella took the opportunity to do the same to Angella. “I thought we had lost you. In a couple years I got my brother back and then my sister.” Letting go she went over to Glimmer to give her a short hug too, “You and your friends are amazing.”

The moment the greetings and hugs were over all three couples leaned into their spouse. Micah and Angella leaned into one another, arm wrapped around the others' shoulder. Lance and George did the same and Glimmer leaned into Bow. “Though it wasn't very nice to surprise me like that. I can't believe you were saving my mom and didn't even tell me.”

Bow leaned in further and placed his cheek against the top of Glimmer's head, “Sorry about that. It started as just a wild idea a couple years ago. Can't remember where you were but I think flying the ship or something. Wrong Hordak had just finished cooking some food and Entrapta and Hordak were talking about some more data and portals. Warping space-time in a matter to allow faster travel or something and I said I wished we could open up a portal into whatever world Angella was lost in,” he glanced over at Entrapta who was now talking enthusiastically with Perfuma, “and you know her. Mention a scientific what-if...”

“...and she'll research it non-stop until she has an answer or something more interesting comes along,” Glimmer finished the thought.

“I wanted to tell you so many times but early on it was way too much of a long-shot to get your hopes up over. Every time I started I imagined us trying with you right there beside us and it failing. Just the thought of getting your hopes up like that and watching your heart break as it doesn't work was just horrible. Even when we came back Entrapta wasn't exactly optimistic about this working out. And to be honest if it wasn't for She-ra it wouldn't have.”

They all glanced over at Adora as her, Catra, Swift Wind, Hordak, and Wrong Hordak as they were near the dinner table and getting some food. “One of the machines I was running helped to monitor Adora's health and it took a lot more out of her than she's letting on. To be honest after fueling the portal and healing Angella, She-ra probably wouldn't have much more actual power that Adora does before she transforms.”

Everyone looked at Bow and then back at Adora for a moment, “Was it really that tough on her?”

Bow nodded solemnly, “Wrong Hordak says there shouldn't be any permanent damage and she should be back up to full power in 20 days or so. Wrong Hordak said She-ra is probably the only person on Etheria that could last more than 15 seconds on that platform and live. She was on it for over four minutes.”

“Her arrival truly was a miracle wasn't it,” Micah asked the crowd. “Just when we think she has done all that can be done for us, she somehow manages to find one more good deed.”

Everyone nodded and after a brief moment of silence George brought the conversation back to the most recent news of the night, “So from the timeline Bow mentioned it sounds like you have known about the baby for a few weeks now. Have you thought about names?”

Glimmer and Bow glanced at each other and smiled before Glimmer replied. “We're still deciding between two actually. We both wanted to name them after family members who mean so much to us. Personally, I want to name the baby Geance but Bow is insisting on Castacharma.”

Castaspella smiled before getting closer to Bow and giving him a short hug, “You're serious?” When he nodded she went in for another short hug, “I always said you were just the sweetest boy. But I notice you haven't helped yoruself to any food yet. You sit there and I'll go fix you up.”

She quickly walked away with a bright, smug smile and a determination in her stride. Lance had finally settled down enough to talk and looked at Bow and Glimmer, “Geance? Would I be correct in guessing that's just a portmanteau of George and Lance?”

Glimmer grinned, “It is. It may seem weird but I just kept thinking about how great my life has been since me and Bow became friends. Seems like a good name to me since my experience tells me that great things happen when Lance and George unite.”She gave them a knowing wink while visibly pulling Bow a bit tighter to her for a moment.

George and Lance looked at one another for a moment as if they were having a deep conversation without saying a single word. With a loving smile and after giving George a light kiss Lance agreed. George looked at Glimmer with a knowing smile though, “But you've already settled on Castacharma haven't you?

Bow and Glimmer both looked shocked for a moment before their body language gave the truth away. George and Lance just started laughing. “How did you know?”

George grinned, “You shouldn't have said Geance was Glimmer's idea. And that line to justify it was so corny. Don't forget we taught Bow how to read and write. We were the ones that corrected his work and proofread his writing.”

With a sigh Lance continued, “That was just too much like the kind of misdirection Bow would have included in his writing. If Bow had pushed the name then there was a chance you would've gotten us.”

Glimmer looked slightly concerned for a second, “You're not mad are you? It's just my aunt has always had kind of a competitive spirit. I thought she would love it even more if she, 'won' the baby's name.”

“Of course not, in fact maybe we can help. Not much of a competition if we don't try right? George, a while ago you mentioned naming the library and letting more people in to research. How about we go with, “The Bow and Glimmer Historical Reference Center.”

Lance's eyes lit up and he clasped his hands together, “I love that idea but the name is a bit wordy. Ooooh I know, Glimmer and Bow Center for Historical Discussion. We could call it the GAB Discussion Center for short.”

“You're writing always connected with people better so it's probably the better choice. Don't worry though, we'll play along with the competition as long as you need us to.”

They continued talking, eating, and enjoying each others company for a little over an hour before they drifted apart in order to talk with everyone else. One of the first people Glimmer looked for was Frosta. The young girl looked up to Glimmer so much and they hadn't seen one another in so long that Glimmer felt like she had to catch up with here. It didn't take long to find her but Glimmer was alarmed when she did. With everything that happened everyone had been smiling and crying happy tears off and on all night but Frosta did not look happy at all.

In front of her was a plate of food that looked as if it had been dished up quite a while ago but had gotten cold and barely any of it had been eaten. Her face was down and she was idly pushing some vegetable around with her fork as Glimmer went to see what was wrong.

As Frosta looked up it was obvious from the red in her eyes and hoarseness in her voice that she had been crying and probably upset for a while. It took a moment for Glimmer to adjust as the last time she had seen Frosta she was just a kid but now she was at that part of life where childhood and adulthood begin to blur. While away the princess had gone from a girl to becoming a young woman. Glimmer reached down and placed a hand lightly on Frosta's shoulder.

“N-nothing. I'm fine. Everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be?”

Her tone of voiced was a bit rough and it sounded like she was barely holding in another long crying fit so Glimmer sat closer and tried again. “I-I'm fine. Of course I am. You lost your dad. Then you lost your mom just like me. But you got both of your parents back so everything's wonderful. Sure both of my parents are still gone and can never come back. I barely remember either of my parents but now you get to make a whole lifetime of memories with both of yours. Now you're going to have a baby and it'll get to actually know all of their grandparents. Why would any of that possibly upset me?”

Frosta began crying full force and Glimmer quickly reached to embrace her tight. “Oh, I am so sorry.” She didn't really know what to do so she asked Frosta to come with her and she did so. Once they were some place a little more private Glimmer just held Frosta again and sighed comfortingly as she continued sobbing, “Let it out. Cry as much as you need to.”

They stood in a corridor off of the main hall for several minutes as Frosta wept and Glimmer held her as she did so. When Frosta was finally able to speak it was a broken apology. “I-I'm so s-sorry. I was so happy at f-first but then I st-started to feel jealous. Th-then I thought that being jealous made me a ho-horrible person. I am so sorry.” She leaned into Glimmer a little bit harder and started crying all over again.

Glimmer patted her on the back, “You don't need to feel bad for that. Be jealous if you need to be. What happened to you and your parents isn't fair. Me getting both of mine back while you remain alone is just terrible. Throw all the jealousy at me that you need to. You can even hate me for a while if you need to. Just know that when I'll always do my best to help you and when you're ready, I'll be here for you.”

Frosta pulled away and looked up with tears, “No, I can't hate you. I-I just feel so lonely sometimes and...”

“I understand. Hold on a moment...” she stepped back into the hall and returned with George behind her. “Lance, I believe you know Princess Frosta?”

He looked at her tear-stained face and tried to be as diplomatic as possible until he understood what was happening, “We have not been formerly introduced but I am familiar with her. How can I help you?” He bowed slightly in an attempt to be respectful and polite.

Glimmer stood next to the crying princess, “Frosta, this is one of Bow's dads. His name is George. He and his husband are very well-respected historians with a huge library full of books about everything you could imagine. Frosta would like to learn some information about her parents. You wouldn't happen to know anything would you?”

A look of realization came across his face as he smiled, “I am not an expert by any means on the ice kingdom from that age but I do have some familiarity with your father. He actually studied magic in Mystacor for a while. From what I hear he wasn't very good though and didn't stick around too long. You know if I can get into contact with some of his classmates maybe some of them will have some stories about your dad as a boy.”

Frosta's demeanor was already beginning to change. A lot of the sadness was being replaced by optimism. “His writing though was some of the most insightful and impressive works I've read. He had a tremendous gift for taking difficult issues and re-imagining them in clever ways that a younger audience could understand.”

Frosta looked up, “My dad was a writer?!”

“Well that's never been confirmed but I think so. A lot of literary experts do,” George said. “Have you ever heard of the book series called The Iceland Tales?”

Glimmer's eyes lit up at that, “Oooh, those fairy tales? I used to love those as a kid. But the author...”

“...was anonymous. “ George finished. He never confirmed it and the author never came forward but a lot of the timing of when the volumes come out match up to events in his life. The distributor just happened to be in a town that the Ice Kingdom did a lot of trading with as well. The rumor is he didn't appreciate sycophants and didn't want anyone praising his work just because it was written by a king. He was a proud guy who put a lot of work and love into his craft and he wanted his work to stand or fall on its own merit. Then of course the last one came out shortly after you were born and had that dedication that for a lot of people confirmed him as the author...”

“OH MY!” Glimmer actually squealed as she grabbed Frosta by the arm. “Come with me!” She began to pull Frosta down the corridor but yelled back at George, “Please get those contacts and see if you have anything for her mother too!” George waved a confirmation as the princesses left and he went back to the gathering.

Glimmer apologized for pulling Frosta away but as they entered her bedroom she told Frosta to sit down and ran over to a bookcase near her bed. After a few minutes Glimmer pulled out a very worn, scratched, beat-up looking book. It was rather thick with a swirling blue and white cover. “The Iceland Tales,” was written in gold and after a few seconds of flipping Glimmer found what she was looking for towards the back. “Here. I always wondered about this but now it actually makes sense.”

She handed the book to Frosta who looked at It and felt the tears form again.

“Dedicated to my beautiful daughter. No matter how bitter the cold or sharp the wind, my heart will always beat warm and soft with you in my arms.”

She didn't cry as long this time but soon looked at Glimmer who was patiently waiting for her. “Th-thank you. C-can I...” she held out the book and Glimmer put her hands up.

“It's all yours.”

“Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means.” She placed the book down on a table and hugged Glimmer. With a smile she pulled away and some of her chipper, rambunctious personality starting to return. “Now let's get back to the party.”

Glimmer grabbed her arm, “In a minute but before we do,” Glimmer just pointed at a mirror nearby and Frosta groaned.

Before coming to the party Frosta had put a lot of time and effort into her hair and makeup. There was no way she would go to Glimmer's party looking anything other than her absolute best. Apparently thought the tears and rubbing her eyes had undone a lot of her hard work. Some of it was smudged, most of it was running, and her hair was nowhere near the meticulous style that she arrived with. “My goodness, I am a mess aren't I?” 

Glimmer chuckled. “A disaster. Knowing you I'm guessing you prefer to clean up a little first.”

Always looking out for me?” 

With a grin Glimmer replied, “Well, you've become like a little sister to me and I wouldn't be a good big sister if I didn't now would I?”

\-----Meanwhile----

Back in the hall Mermista and Seahawk had joined Lance and Bow and were now discussing some of the happenings during the Best Friend Squad's space travels. While there wasn't a whole lot of conflict it did crop up from time-to-time, especially on planets formerly controlled by Horde Prime. They heard he had fallen but some people were still apprehensive and once in a while locals would react to an approaching space ship with immediate hostility. Everything got explained eventually but it still meant there could be an occasional fight before explanations could be made.

Seahawk of course wanted to hear the tales of adventure, Mermista claimed to be making sure he didn't embarrass her, and Lance was just amused by his own ignorance. With all the crazy things and brave adventures Bow had undertaken he seemed to have a childlike innocence and hero worship when dealing with Seahawk. As if the sea captain was the true hero and Bow just a kid seeking approval. “To think I once claimed you didn't like pirates or any of seafaring adventure stuff. Watching you two together makes me wonder what else my son has been hiding from me.”

With a bright, roguish smile Seahawk replied,“If it pleases you I would simply like to say that your son is truly remarkable. Remarkable! A capable seaman with a true sense of adventure that rivals even my own! He possess a fiercely loyal spirit and a never-give-up attitude that is something almost any should seek to emulate. Shall I ever find myself in need of a deckhand for a journey Bow is easily my second or third choice.”

Lance raised his eyebrows, “Second?”

Seahawk reached to grab Mermista's hand and held it in front of him, “In life or adventure for me there is one that will always come before all others.”

Mermista sighed, “Yeah, I guess when you aren't burning your own ships. Honestly when we were rebuilding Salineas I posted a guard on him to make sure he didn't try burning it down to.”

Seahawk looked at Mermista with an exaggerated hurt look, “I would never-” As he spoke he saw looks on Mermista and Bow's faces that told him they weren't going to believe what he said next pretty much regardless of how many times he said it. With his head down he gave in, “Okay, I thought about it early into the rebuilding. But I assure you, just a little one and the building was already destroyed anyway. It would have done more to clear away some of the rubble than anything right?”

Mermista had crossed her arms in front of her chest and crossed her legs at that, “I knew it.”

“But that fire in me was extinguished early into the project. He reached out and grabbed her hand again and stared into her eyes. “Every night you returned to your bed tired, sore, hungry, and frustrated. Watching your struggle, your work, and your dedication filled me with feelings I had not known. One night in particular you returned with a long, dep cut across your left arm,”

“I remember that. You canceled your next trip and stuck around for three more days just to make sure the bandages were changed and cleaned regularly. That lotion you rubbed on it smelled horrible.”

Seahawk smiled, “Yes, that stuff always had a rather nasty odor. But as you laid down with your eyes closed that first night while I wrapped the bandage around your arm I swore off of fire for anything other than cooking or lighting my path.”

Mermista looked at him with a skeptical eye roll, “Really? What about 'adventure?'” The last word mentioned with sarcastic air quotes.

“Beloved, I have fought against The Evil Horde. Captured by pirates and escaped to tell the tale. Battled against the forces of Horde Prime himself. I even went toe-to-toe with the amazing, beautiful, and deadly Princess of Salineas herself while she was under the control of Horde Prime's dastardly brain chips. It is not just a jest or exaggeration to say that being in love with you has provided me with the greatest adventures of my life. I would gladly surrender a trifle like fire to acquire the glorious times you have brought me.”

Mermista wanted to say something sarcastic or to downplay that sappy nonsense but was a little too surprised. Somehow he was still a brash, brave, annoying rogue but added in a bit of corny sweetness that she found so endearing and romantic.. 

Despite her attempts at always trying to appear cool and above it all, Lance could easily see the affection she felt for Seahawk. “You know what good sir, I will drink to that. George and my children have taught me that love itself is one of the greatest adventures there are. And when you have loved ones around you, the adventures you share become that much more rewarding. How about a toast? To love and adventure!” 

Lance, Bow, Mermista, and Seahawk all bumped their drinks together affirming the toast. Mermista and Seahawk saw Perfuma and excused themselves to go talk with her a little bit at the same time Glimmer entered the hall and flagged George down to join her in the hall.

As Bow watched him exit the room he looked at Lance, “So George has really given up studying the First Ones? That used to be such a passion of his I can't believe he gave it up. Especially with Adora around. Translating First Ones writing just became so much easier.”

Lance sighed and took a pause to drink a large sip of wine, “Yeah. To be honest George has always been kind of a romantic in the way he looked at life. He used to think of First Ones as brave settlers and pioneering engineers fighting impossible odds to do what's right.” He took another sip and swirled the glass a few times before continuing, “But then we find out they were stifling the magic and just trying to turn the planet into a massive weapon. A weapon apparently strong enough to destroy the entire universe. While the war was still going he kind of ignored his misgivings and carried on...”

“...imminent threat of total destruction will probably do that”

Lance nodded agreement to Bow's brief interruption, “but once the war was over and things calmed down a lot of his research into the First Ones didn't hold the same passion it once did for him.”

Looking back at the door he had left through Bow spoke half to Lance and half to himself, “I still can't believe that he decided to focus on the Princesses fight against The Horde and Horde Prime though. I know how much he hated that war.”

At that point Lance just let out a deep, loud laugh and looked Bow square in the eyes, “You still haven't figured that out?” When Bow just returned the question with an empty expression Lance briefly checked to make sure George was still out of the room before telling the truth, “It isn't really about the war for him. He's gone around asking questions and taking notes a few times tonight. Here's my guess. 75% have been asked questions about Adora, Catra, She-ra, Hordak, Glimmer, and Queen Angella. Half about Micah and a few of the princesses. A few have been asked about the Crimson Wastes, Beast Island, Double Trouble, and Wrong Hordak. However every single person he's gotten to answer questions has been asked about the great warrior, inventor, leader, engineer, and glue of the Best Friend Squad known as Bow.”

“M-me?”

Lance reached over and gave Bow a firm pat on the back, “You have no idea how proud of you he is. Think back to when you were doing schoolwork and we were correcting it. Do you remember the happiest moments he ever was going through your homework?”

Bow just sat for a couple moments thinking while Lance looked on with a knowing smirk. Eventually Bow thought of a moment, “I don't remember what the report was but it had to do with a report I did on Mystacor I think. He had marked something wrong but it was after Glimmer and I had become friends. She got Castaspella to give me some help so I told George I thought I was correct and it shouldn't have been marked as wrong. He checked a couple books and told me that I was right.”

Lance's smile was now brighter than ever, “Exactly. His proudest moment for any of his sons was the first time they corrected him and had the nerve to stand up for themselves. What you don't know is that the night you handed in that Mystacor report he spent two hours looking deeper into the stuff he was wrong about after you all went to bed. Beaming the whole time. There is nothing that man loves more than things he was wrong about being corrected and as far as he's concerned you have proven him wrong about the princess war.”

“That wasn't why I was fighting though.”

“Of course it wasn't, everyone knows that. You were doing what you thought was right and wanted to protect those closest to you. One of the things me and George agree on most is that so long as you and your brothers do those two things, we've done some of the most important part of our jobs while raising you. Those were two of the three key principles we wanted to impart on your brothers and you.”

“Two?” Bow just smiled curious as to the other one.

“The other is to always consider the possibility that you're wrong. When George and I first met in school to be honest we didn't much care for one another. We were paired together for a project and both of us had drastically different views on it. He brought some things I was wrong about and I returned the favor. We both loved those moments and soon enough we developed a respect. We hung out more and more and soon enough that respect led to a little bit of a crush. One thing led to another and one day we were walking together and had to go to different classes. I couldn't resist and told him about my feelings. His response was a kiss on the cheek and a promise to discuss it more later.”

They both watched as George came back in and quickly went over to Castaspella to talk to her. There was a soft look in his face but a certainty about his stride that indicated what he was doing felt rather important. Lance got up and looked down at Bow, “Remember the first step to learning the truth is to accept that you don't know it yet. The first step to ignorance is thinking you already know the answer.”

\--YET ANOTHER MEANWHILE...--

Micah had led Angella out of the main hall a little after Glimmer left. A couple of times he saw a looks on her fact that indicated she was feeling a little stressed out. Understandable considering her last couple of days but of course she refused to admit it. Eventually he insisted that they take a few moments alone but pretended it had more to do with his desires than looking out for her. Apparently it was something she took to heart and they had barely found themselves in someplace secluded before Micah felt his wife's lips pressing firmly up against his own. The two remained in a tight embrace, lips locked together before Angella pulled away a little out of breath. “You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that.”

“I hate to disagree so soon after our reunion but I may have some idea.”

Angella smirked, “Really? Now how on earth could you know that?”

He led her down the darkened hall as they stared out of a small balcony into the moonlight, “Unfortunately the monsters of Beast Island weren't particularly good company.” They stood quietly, hand-in-hand watching the stars shine.

“You know, sitting under the stars with someone you love could become a thing. It feels rather romantic doesn't it?”

Micah spun his wife around so they were face-to-face. “I just wish we had some music, dancing under them could probably be even better.”

Angella lightly brushed his hair, “Who needs music. Right now my heart is singing.”

The two just held onto the other, swaying to the beat of an unheard song until Micah's curiosity got the better of him and he had to ask a question that had bothering him, Can I ask something Angie?”

“Anything.”

Micah awkwardly cleared his throat, “when you first saw me and Glimmer we had our moment but you flew over and hugged Hordak.”

Angella stiffened up and pulled away from Micah slightly at the mention of that, “Oh, that.” She turned away from Micah and placed her hands on the railing in front of them” When I was rescued I was so weak, so close to death. Then Bow and Adora kept vigil over me, feeding me water drop-by-drop and trying to make my body stronger.” She turned around and looked at Micah. “Then I talked to Bow and he told me Glimmer was safe, the war was over. He and Adora were both okay too and it was all I could have asked for. 

Eventually I got strong enough that Adora took me outside to see the stars. She told me that many of our enemies were now allies and that the greatest evil had been defeated. With the increased magic to the planet I was able to recover faster than I could imagine and even flew from Dryl to Bright Moon all on my own. To see Bright Moon just as lovely and inviting as I remembered it. Then I sat in my throne and saw so many of my friends gathered. It was more than I ever could have hoped for. It seemed too good to be true. It was all a bit overwhelming.”

Micah walked up beside her and leaned his elbows against the railing, standing next to his wife but looking off into the distance, “Then you saw me while already dealing with a little too much.”

She turned back around so they were both looking off into the distant forest, “Exactly. I thought for a moment that it actually was too good to be true. When I lost you, you have no idea how bad I felt. I ordered the battle you were lost in. I never stopped blaming myself for it, every time I saw your empty chair in the Great Hall I was reminded that it was my decision that got you killed. The idea that you were still alive and that you would one day return to me is one that I had long ago given up. But then I saw you, somehow even more handsome than I remembered I decided it couldn't be real. Maybe I had died and my soul had drifted off to some wonderful paradise or lost my mind and was hallucinating. I knew that it couldn't be true and my mind had created a perfect fantasy where everything was the way I wanted it. I had given up until I saw Hordak.

I know he's supposed to be on our side now but that didn't change some of the feelings I felt. When I saw him inside the castle, inside the Great Hall, next to all of my friends for a moment I still thought of him as the enemy. I felt anger anger and fear that I hadn't known in a long time. He stood next to Entrapta and I felt betrayal. Then when I remembered they helped to rescue me I felt a conflicted bit of embarrassment and shame. But why would my perfect fantasy world make me feel those thiings too? Suddenly I could imagine that it was no longer a pure fantasy . There were those less enjoyable emotions. It wasn't much but it was enough to consider the possibility that it was all real.”

“So that's why you hugged us?”

“I needed to get closer. Touch you, feel you, smell you, hear your breathing and hearts beating. I needed to hold onto the hope that it was real and it was Hordak being here that gave it to me. Everything seemed real between you and Glimmer and just to make sure, I wanted to see if the bad things felt just as solid. I had planned just to touch Hordak but my hopes that everything was real had returned. Hugging him was just me getting a little overzealous.”

Micah put an arm around his wife and the two just stood in each others' grasp for a little while. Their interaction shifting between flirtatious conversation and occasional kisses until they were interrupted by a couple coming out of the main room and heading in their direction. Both recognized the voices and Micah got a knowing look on his face before asking Angella to follow.

“Good evening ladies, I hope the celebration has been enjoyable for you.”

Netossa smiled, “It was a bit unfair of Glimmer and Bow to spring those surprises on us like that but I think it's one of the best nights we've ever had.”

Spinnerella reached out and gathered all four of them into a hug, “When we lost you it broke my heart, especially with the timing. Separated for so many years but Micah returns so shortly after you sacrificed yourself. When I saw you in the throne I just felt so happy for you. Both of you. Not to mention how much we missed you. Then I thought of you reuniting and it made me think back to when I almost lost Spinny to Horde Prime because of those chips. Then I remembered how great it was when we got her back.”

Angella looked at them as the hug was released, “I'm almost glad I wasn't here for that. Being forced to fight Micah or worse getting chipped and battling Glimmer against my own will. It must have been dreadful for all of you.”

Spinnerella and Micah both looked at one another with Spinnarella being the one to respond, “It's been hard for all of us to get over. The only real saving grace being that Prime's hold was so complete that almost everybody on Etheria had to deal with it.”

“Sometimes it's easier to get over something if there are others around you going through the same thing I guess,” Micah added. “Whoever thought there would come a day when I'd be glad that my daughter beat me up.”

Netossa had a smug look on her face while Spinnerella had an annoyed one, both appearing about to say something but Micah decided to interrupt to stop the upcoming tiff he was expecting, “So, heading to your room for the night or just a quick check in?”

Both of the women just laughed and decided to drop the teasing that was coming. Netossa never made fun, ridiculed, or said anything mean about Spinny getting chipped. But she did occasionally like to remind her that when they fought, Netossa won. On the other hand Spinnerella was fond of adding the word, 'eventually,' to a lot of Netossa's boasts. But that little ongoing discussion could continue another time. “We're still too wound up for sleep, just want to check.”

Micah smiled, “Do you mind if we join you? Angie still hasn't seen...”

“Oh my, you don't know,” Netossa said excitedly. “Please, we would be more than happy to have you come with us.”

Micah looked at his wife, “Think you can handle some more good news?”

Angella smiled, “I think after everything I've gone through tonight nothing will surprise me.”

Spinnerella, Netossa, and Micah all began talking in hushed tones as they went down the hall and led her to one of the guest rooms. When they opened the door two things stood out. First on the bed was a strange looking giant cat-like creature with a reddish-purple body and flowing green, semi-transparent mane that looked up at them. In front of it and at the front of the bed was a crib.

All four quietly walked in and Spinnerella reached out and lightly scratched the cat creature behind the ears. She whispered quietly, “This is Melog.” She then nodded her head down into the crib, “and that is Lightstreak.”

Angella looked in the crib to see a baby that couldn't have been more than a couple months old quietly sleeping. It wasn't well lit in the room so details were hard to make out but Angella was able to see the baby had somewhat darker skin and trace amounts of light purple hair beginning to grow from their head. 

They all just stood around quietly for a few seconds before Angella whispered, “So beautiful. She has Netossa's nose and Spinnerella's cheeks. I'm guessing you two went to see Prince Ovak?”

The baby's mothers both gave Melog a pat on the head before waving everyone out of the room and closing the door. “Yes, we have Prince Ovak to thank for that little bundle of happiness,” Netossa said as they got further from the room.'

“Not just him though. We also have you and the rest of The Rebellion to thank. Some of our lands bordered the Fright Zone and The Horde wasn't above kidnapping and raising babies to raise them as child soldiers. Because of that a good number of our people were choosing to not have children. We both wanted a baby so bad but couldn't bring ourselves to do it while the world was in that state. Especially while the people were denying that joy for themselves. That's why we were always part of the Princess Alliance. We wanted to create a world where children, including our own could grow up happy and safe. Once The Horde were gone and we were convinced Prime wasn't coming back, we asked Ovak to put us on the waiting list,” Spinnerella told them.

“Turns out we shouldn't have waited so long though. We knew a lot of couples would probably be looking for his help but underestimated how long it would take. We put our names in about a year after Prime was beaten and it took around two years for us to get our turn. We didn't realize just how many people were waiting for the war to be over.”

Angella smiled, “I for one am grateful it did take you that long. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see them so young. They're so adorable at that age.”

Spinnerella then took ahold of Angella's hand and held onto it firmly, “And we'll never forget that we wouldn't have our baby without you.:

Angella looked a little taken aback with that claim. “But it was She-ra, Glimmer, and all of you that beat The Horde.”

Netossa stood closer to Spinnerella and looked at Angella, “And from what I understand in that weird other reality thing it came down to a choice of one of you two getting locked away in another dimension. You and Adora were the only options. Without your decision and courage there never would have been a She-ra to beat The Horde. Glimmer may have still found out about the Heart and used it. Maybe brought us back into the universe but that means we'd be up against Horde Prime's forces without She-ra. The war would would probably be over and we would have lost without your sacrifice.”

“And if She-ra wasn't around it's possible they never would have went to rescue Entrapta from Beast Island, which means Micah would still be there too,” Spinnerella added.

Micah wrapped an arm around Angella's waist to hold her close while Spinnerella and Netossa did the same. “During the war you always tried to remind everyone how important they were. You reminded the farmers, millers, and bakers that we couldn't fight without food. You reminded builders that our soldiers needed places to sleep to fight effectively. I think once I even saw you tell someone doing laundry that even they were providing a valuable contribution.”

As both couples began walking back to the main hall Angella smiled, “Oh yeah. Smelly clothes can give away our soldiers' positions.” That moment was so long ago Angella was genuinely touched that Micah remembered it.

“Don't tell me that after all of that time you've spent propping others up you've forgotten to do that for yourself,” Micah asked.

She just responded with a melancholy smile for a few seconds while thinking what to say, “I guess it just feels like the world has passed me by. So much has happened while I was away. You've been running the kingdom while Glimmer and Bow were travelling through space When I left I still kind of thought as Glimmer as my little girl. Now my baby's suddenly all grown up. She's a woman and turning me into a grandmother.”

Micah gave her a pat on the back and pressed his cheek against hers. “I guess I can see how that might be a little difficult. Between Beast Island and her time in space it has been rough for me too. When I went away she was still learning to crawl.” Micah got a bit of a smirk, “On the plus side you did talk about having another child when Glimmer grew up a bit. I think she qualifies now so maybe once you've recovered a little more...”

As he said the last sentence Angella slowed down her pace to a stop and for a second Micah was looking back at his wife. Her lips slowly curled into a devious smile which lasted for about two seconds as her tongue briefly came out of her mouth to wet her upper lip. She looked forward intently at Micah before her before her or a few seconds before shaking her head and taking on the most stately, composed posture that he had ever seen from Angie. With a rather showy and deliberate gate to her step Angella walked back into the Great Hall to rejoin the party.

That made Micah nervous. Historically when Angie went into her super-stately demeanor it meant she was holding back some extremely powerful emotions. As he stood watching her leave, Micah found himself flanked by Spinnerella and Netossa who each placed a hand on his back.

“We were always part of The Rebel Alliance and were there to help her when everyone thought you died. 'Tossa and I stayed after quite a few rebel meetings early on to offer support and discuss what she missed most with you gone. Everything she missed. With everything going on she may have let that one slip her mind until you brought it up,” To drive the point home she gave Micah a light, playful slap on the side of his butt.

Both women walked around Micah and as they approached the arch into the Great Hall Netossa quickly looked back, “You may want to be the one drinking plenty of water tonight. Just a thought.”

\---TOWARDS THE END OF THE NIGHT---

Catra and Adora finally got the chance to be alone. Adora had tried to coax Catra out of the main room and onto one of the larger balconies for a couple hours at this point. It didn't take Catra long to realize Adora seemed to be trying to lead her there and as a result Catra became a social butterfly. The more frustrated Adora acted, the more Catra began moving away from the balcony. At the moment Catra was talking to Perfuma about something called catnip. Apparently it had weird effects on smaller cats and was wondering if they would work the same on her. Adora made a mental note to try and get some, to Adora the effects sounded like when her sword was effected by that weird First Ones virus but after it got taken away.

As they wrapped up that conversation, she once again reached out and tried to lead Catra to the same balcony. Which was working until the crowd reacted to Micah and Angella returning to the main hall. Catra began to pull away insisting it was time to welcome her back home but Adora decided to finally be a little bit firmer. She gripped Catra's hand a bit tighter and held firmly. Catra's reaction was just to look deep into Adora's eyes with a sarcastic sad face, “What's wrong sweetie? You seem a little angry.”

Adora closed her eyes and took a deep breath for a second before answering through clenched teeth in a slightly stilted manner. “Could you please join me on the balcony over there? I'd like to have a word with you in private.” 

Catra responded with an over dramatic surprised reaction, “Oh, is that all you wanted? It seems a bit silly to act so frustrated over something that small. Why didn't you ask sooner? You know I don't like big crowds and would have loved to join you out there earlier.”

Catra began walking away and let her tail lightly stroke the bottom of Adora's chin as she did. Adora facepalmed as she followed. A little frustrated but quickly waved her hand at Swift Wind. Giving Adora a wink and with as much stealth as a bright white unicorn with rainbow wings could mange while humming, trotted over to the balcony and pulled the rope keeping the curtain open. Adora let go of Catra's hand and subtly reached down into the other tied curtain and felt around until her finger brushed up against a hard, felt box. Quickly grabbing it and putting it behind her back, Adora pulled the other rope so that curtain closed as well. By the time the two women made it to the railing the curtain had closed off the balcony from the rest of the hall, muffling the room and giving Adora and Catra some privacy. She glanced back over he shoulder and saw Swift Wind's face giving her a quick wink before withdrawing. Adora hoped he would be able to keep the party goers from following long enough.

“Shame Scorpia wasn't able to come. So many hugs being thrown around she's going to be kicking herself for missing it.”

Adora didn't really do or say anything for a bit. She just stood back looking at Catra, a happy contented smile on her face. For a few seconds Adora forgot the rest of the world existed and stared at her love, planning for how to proceed. She was too nervous to just do it yet so instead she tucked the box under her belt and carefully stood next to Catra, leaning against the railing next to her, “Yeah, there is a lot of love in the air tonight. Sounds like those kids have been keeping her busy though.”

Catra just looked off into the distance, “Yeah, a lot of people were hurt in the war over the years. A lot of orphans were created by The Horde. A lot of them were created by me.”

Adora could hear the sorrow and regret in Catra's voice and this wasn't the first time Catra had expressed regret about her past. Adora had long since abandoned saying it wasn't her fault, it was okay, or anything like that. When she had tried in the past Catra had repeated answers to every comfort Adora offered. 'You had the guts to leave The Horde when you saw they were bad but I didn't', 'I was the one that ordered the attacks,' and ''I knew it was bad and enjoyed it,' were a few of Catra's common retorts. 

Rather than comforting her a lot of those attempts at consoling Catra made her feel insulted and condescended to. As if being told it wasn't her fault would magically make it not her fault. Adora had learned early on that when Catra had a silent moment of reflection like this the best things to do were just to stay close and be there for her. So to show support for her Adora just reached over and began to give Catra a light back rub while Catra calmed down. 

They stood together quietly for several minutes before Catra was ready to continue, “Though I need to admit part of me is kind of jealous. Being an orphan sucks regardless but they get to be raised by Scorpia while we were stuck with Shadow Weaver.”

Adora smiled a bit as she stopped rubbing Catra's back, “Oh it isn't all great for them though. I hear Kyle might be heading back to the Fright Zone to lend Scorpia a hand with the kids”

That got a chuckle from Catra, “Kyle's back? Well I guess The Fright Zone's in trouble now. With him in charge the place won't be habitable after two weeks.”

“Give it three, Pefuma and Mermista have been helping with growing food and irrigation. Those two should be able to give Kyle an extra seven days,” Adora said with a laugh.

“Ten if they're really lucky.”

Again they were quiet for a little while before Adora continued the conversation, “Are you sure you're okay with Melog heading to the Fright Zone to help her?”

“Well it isn't like Melog's a pet, he's always been more independent and you saw the way that thing gets around kids. Haven't been able to keep 'em away from Lightstreak since they arrived. Seems to enjoy just being around kids and is sweet and very protective. If there's anyone out there on Etheria who could use some magic protector capable of sensing emotions it's probably someone taking care of a bunch of orphans. Between the two of them, Melog and Scorpia will make sure they get all the hugs and bedtime stories they need.”

Adora agreed and the two just stood quietly together before Adora took a couple of steps back. Neither of them were very good at small talk or casual conversation so a lot of their time together was sparring or just being close. Catra seemed to have calmed down and the longer she waited, the more she felt her apprehension growing and courage slipping. Catra continued to just enjoy the cool air and quiet for a bit until she began to wonder what Adora was up to. 

When she turned around the only thing she saw was the top of Adora's head at the bottom of her vision. Looking down though was a teary-eyed Adora on one knee She was crying quite a bit but had a large, knowing smile that made Catra's heart flutter a little bit. In her outstretched hand was a long, black jewelry box with a large, golden chain necklace. Hanging from the end was a six-pointed, golden star that looked quite a bit like the one on She-ra's chest. Near the top of it though was a line of shiny red rubies that at closer inspection looked remarkably like the helmet Catra wore when she was still in The Horde.

With a quick sniffle to help her speak clearly Adora held the box up a little higher, “You never struck me as the ring type but I think this still works. Catra, will you make me the happiest woman on Etheria and marry me?”

Catra slowly reached her hand down and tentatively grabbed the box, suddenly needing a good sniffle to clear her eyes and speak clearly too. “After all this time you are still such an idiot,” She gave Adora a little smile and wink, “but you're my idiot. Now get up off that knee so we can have our engagement kiss.”

Adora didn't need to be told a second time and soon Adora and Catra were locked in a tight embrace, kissing under the moonlight. They stayed like that for several minutes with the occasional sniffle and Catra's purring being the only noise either of them heard. Once they parted Adora helped fasten the wedding chain around Catra's neck. For a little while Catra's game of teasing Adora was forgotten and the two just basked in the moment and happiness until Catra started acting as she normally did in places like this and jumped up onto the railing. She pulled up the charm to get a closer look and had to smile at Adora's attention to detail. A couple of the arms on that She-ra star thing had three tiny little marks on them reminiscent of the ones on Catra's own limbs. 

Catra was actually strutting around while balancing on the narrow beam while admiring her new jewelry and lovingly mocked Adora by claiming she had just stolen the title of happiest women on Etheria. ,”I love you as much as you love me, only difference is now I have a shiny new necklace. That title is mine now and you're the one who gave it to me,” Catra joked before poking Adora lightly on the nose and sticking out her tongue at her.

Adora just loved seeing Catra so happy and let her bask in the moment. But being a typical worrier Adora also was sure to take a quick glance at Catra's feet to ensure she didn't slip off the railing and hurt herself. As she did though Adora thought she noticed something and slowly reached out to grab the hem of Catra's dress to lift it up slightly.

Catra noticed and immediately jumped down onto the floor, momentarily losing all the happiness she was just reveling in. “A-Adora, I know it's an emotional moment and we love each other and all that but lifting up my dress at a royal party? I don't really think now is the right time for that.” The look on her face was suddenly completely serious. When she realized that the look was probably making Adora even more suspicious Catra tried to bring the smile back and act as if nothing was wrong.

But Adora wasn't convinced and her face was suddenly stern and serious. “Catra, please let me see your feet.”

Catra tried to convince Adora everything was okay and there was nothing to worry about. Catra reminded her that they were getting married and should just celebrate that but instead Adora just crossed her arms in front of her chest and waited. Finally realizing Adora wasn't going to drop it, Catra gave an exasperated shout and slowly lifted the hem of her dress. 

Adora audibly gasped and put her hand up to her mouth in shock at what she saw. Large portions on both of Catra's feet and ankles were covered in large, red burn marks. A small black spot was in the middle of one. She looked up into Catra's eyes before grabbing her leg right above the damaged area and gave one of the wounds a light touch, resulting in a loud intake of air from Catra as she winced in pain. “When did this happen?”

Catra looked away from Adora and stared off into the middle distance somewhere over her left shoulder, “Remember when you were in that contraption that Entrapta and the Hordaks built when we rescued the queen and I kicked you off of it? Apparently this is what it does to a normal person that's only in it for a second.”

“So when you kicked me out, this is what happened to you?” With a somber look Adora reached out her hand in a gesture Catra recognized, “For the hono-...”

“No.” Catra knocked Adora's hand away from the sword before it even formed. “I know you want to pretend you're doing fine and your body's at perfect health but Wrong Hordak told me how much that machine took out of you. I wasn't thrilled watching you torture yourself over Angella but she was dying so I understood.”

She reached down to grab Adora's chin and wordlessly asked Adora to stand up and look her in the eye. As they stood face to face, Catra continued, “I have not been a hero as long as you have, but I've finally done it enough times to understand why you do it. I get it and to be honest I'll never be the hero you are but I understand why you do it at least. And I know you'll never give it up. You will always be ready to to run out there to help anyone in need. That's just who you are and I love who are. I love that part of you, but if you're going to be the one that looks out for everyone else, I just ask that you let me be the one person on Etheria who looks out for you.”

Adora looked at Catra's serious face for a moment before glancing back down at her feet. “B-but your feet..”

“My feet hurt. Quite a bit actually. But this doesn't exactly seem like a life threatening injury. You want to look strong and pretend you're at full strength to make everyone at the party feel safe? Fine, I'll play along because I love you and I know it's important to you. In private though, I want you to admit when you're vulnerable. I want you to recover for a few days. By then we should both be in better condition and you can go She-ra and heal my feet to your heart's content. In the meantime I don't need you transforming to fix my every little scratch and bruise.”

Adora looked on unsure but Catra gave a sarcastic half-smile, “And if it means that much to you, I'll even let you give me a foot massage after you heal me.”

She still looked hesitant but sighed. Catra putting herself at risk in order to save her more pain was one thing but then suffering through pain for several days out of concern for Adora reminded her how far Catra had come from their days in The Horde together. “Have you told anyone else about this?”

Catra shrugged her shoulders, “I was worried if I told anyone it'd get back to you. Last couple days everyone was so worried about Queen-y that I was able to hide it pretty easily.”

“Tonight or tomorrow morning please go to Wrong Hordak and see if he can help you. And even if I'm hurt and you don't want me to heal you, at least tell me. We actually have friends now and they may be able to figure out non-magical solutions to help. Deal?”

Adora placed her right hand on Catra's cheek and they just looked at each other. Catra felt a little embarrassed but nodded. “I guess that's a fair compromise, glad I thought of it.”

Adora gave a sarcastic smile and shook her head, “I love you.”

“I know,” Catra purred as they wrapped their arms around each others waist and headed back towards the closed curtains to tell everyone the news. “So no foot massage then?”

“Try to stop me...”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One more part of the post-war tale. This one centering on Glimmer and Bow, with Sea Hawk, Mermista, and Hordak joining in a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay getting this part out. Depression and work can be difficult to get the energy for any type of creative output. Hope you enjoy this part at least though.

\---SEVERAL MONTHS LATER---

“Uuuugh!,” Mermista groaned as she tried to get the dress to fit perfectly. Sea Hawk of course just smiled as she repeatedly adjusted the neckline and kept rethinking which wreath of lily pad flowers looked best with it. 

Sea Hawk lounged casually, lying on a couch near the corner of the room and hadn't said very much the past couple hours. He knew what Mermista was like when she was in a perfectionist mindset and thought better of stepping out of line but finally decided it was time to break in. Maybe her frustration would make her more willing to see things from his perspective, “Sweetie, I really think you're overthinking things a little...”

He was cut off rather quickly by the annoyed glance followed by an eye roll. “Seriously? I am the one Glimmer asked to marry her and Bow. I am literally marrying a queen to a future king. Am I supposed to like, go out there looking anything better than the absolute best I can?”

Sitting up and leaning forward, with a look of unusual levels of sommitment, Sea Hawk simply looked Mermista square in the eye and said, “Absolutely.” Afterward he closed his eye in preparation for a small splash of water in the face to accompany the frustrated growl he expected before Mermista began a short rant. He didn't feel it so opened his eyes only to see a small, spherical puddle of water floating in midair right in front of him. It didn't splash him as he expected though. Instead all that happened was a small tendril of water emerged from the ball and lightly poked him in the nose.

That actually gave Sea Hawk a little bit of hope. When she acted playful like that it was usually a good sign that she was willing to listen to him. She still looked at Sea Hawk with a bit of a condescending look though but of course he wasn't worried about that. Mermista tended to give everyone frustrated or condescending looks, especially on busy days. “That's easy for you to say. The outfit you have on for the weddding is barely different than what you normally wear.”

Sea Hawk looked down and agreed. It was all the same style with just a bit higher quality fabric and more formal colors. The blue jacket he normally wore was replaced with a black one, the white shirt was pretty much the same just without the hole under the neck present. His neckerchief was white with golden patterns weaved along the edges and a pin depicting the seal of Salineas near the middle. His boots were shorter and black while his pants were just a shinier, newer pair of what he normally wore. Mermista was pretty sure the belt and arm guards he had on were the exact same ones he wore on a regular day. He proudly smiled in response, “Of course but I look glorious no matter what I wear.” After an annoyed look from Mermista he added that they both look glorious in just about anything.

“All eyes from all seven kingdoms and beyond will be on me today. I can't go up there in anything other than the best.”

Sea Hawk responded by quickly bouncing off of the sofa he was sitting on and pulled the current wreath off of Mermista's head to toss it idly on her makeup table. Standing behind Mermista, he leaned down and grabbed her around the waist, resting his head on her shoulder. “There are a lot of things I've learned in our adventures these past couple years but there's one lesson that keeps popping up with you about. It can be a tough lesson to swallow but I have found it to be too true. Sometimes the best thing a person can do is let themselves be second best.”

Mermista's eyes became completely round and she actually coughed a couple times in surprise at that statement. She actually took a second to quietly think about what he just said, not sure she heard it right. “Are you actually telling me that you, the great, amazing, legendary sea captain Sea Hawk admits to being second best?”

Sea Hawk only smiled and held Mermista a bit tighter, “Only when I'm in select company. I trust you can keep that I said it between us though?”

With a thoughtful grin Mermista agreed, “Sure, I guess. So you don't think that I should look my best when everyone's looking at me?”

Sea Hawk let go and let the pitch of his voice grow more dramatic and emphatic. “Absolutely not, when all eyes are on Mermista she should look every bit as beautiful as she wishes.” He then began to awkwardly fondle the arm braces, “But you need to remember that all eyes will be looking in your direction, but you may not want them on you. Today belongs to Glimmer and Bow and if you outshine them...”

“Gaaaaaaaaa, that could ruin their wedding, I feel like such a moron!” Mermista looked at her spectacular dress, all the flowery wreaths, all the makeup, and then gave another annoyed groan at all the time she put into it. All of it wasted. She began thinking of a suitable alternative until a thought struck her. Sea Hawk had been pretty quiet for a long time. She didn't look in his direction much but she did catch a look at his face and for a while he had been wearing a particularly smug, satisfied expression on it.

With a slow turn of her body she moved until facing Sea Hawk directly, “When did you realize I was overdoing it?”

Sea Hawk stepped away and grinned sheepishly, “Oh well I knew you'd likely go too far since Glimmer chose you to preside. I confirmed it around two hours ago.”

An evil smile began forming itself on Mermista's face, “Two hours ago and you didn't say anything? Just let me keep going?? All this time and you just let me waste all the effort?!”

To her surprise Sea Hawk didn't back down at all, “Part of adventure is the beautiful people, places, and art work that you can discover. How could I deny myself seeing one of the world's greatest artistic masterpieces? I kept wanting to say something but it just kept getting more and more beautiful. Which says a lot as the canvas was pretty breathtaking to begin with.”

Her twisted smile dropped but a hint of anger remained, “You are soooo corny. But now I need to figure out what to wear for this wedding and I don't have much time...”

Sea Hawk didn't flinch and his smile just radiated with greater intensity. “Sweetie, I may pull your leg but I will never leave you adrift at sea. I was there when you ordered this dress and I may have snuck away to have a second one made just in case.”

He quickly reached into one of Mermista's closets and pulled out a much simpler but still beautiful dress. It was a long, backless, royal purple dress that shimmered slightly when moved into the right lighting. The neckline and arms were lined with a thin layer of gold and with it was a golden crown similar to the official Salineas one. The only difference is that this old one was just gold with three lines etched into it to resemble waves while the new one had the same wave pattern but with a trident etched into the front with a small aquamarine forming the point of each tine. 

Mermista grabbed the dress and held it up in front of her with a critical eye and an overly dramatic, dour look. She took a second to feel the fabric and after Sea Hawk's smile began to fade into one of concern she finally spoke, “I can totally pull your leg too. This will work. It's actually perfect. When did you become so smart and devious?”

Sea Hawk knew she loved his corny replies but never admitted it openly, “My dear, me and you have been having back-and-forths of our own for years now.” He reached out and lightly held Mermista's wrist as he leaned forward and kissed one of her hands, “I have been granted wisdom by competing against the very best I could find.”

Mermista blushed and sighed in fake contempt, “Always so cheesy.”

“When I met Bow he did everything he could to prove himself a capable man of the sea. He seemed to take everything I said to heart and really looked up to me. Maybe idolized me and after years of learning from my greatness, look where he is now. That's just proof listening to the best can take you to great places.” 

But he was still so conceited and arrogant. Funny how that used to be so annoying but now it was so endearing to her. “Alright, let me get dressed and we can check with the staff to see how the rest of the preparations are going.”

\---Elsewhere---

Glimmer continued to look over her list and fret. Several wadded up papers lined the floor, all of which with names written front-to-back and then crossed out. Glimmer and Bow had agreed to make this a traditional Etheria wedding and that means both spouses would be escorted by four people. Two leading her to the altar and two following them. Originally they were supposed to be the four most important people in your life though the Horde War had changed that somewhat. With the conflict and Horde's tendency to use sneak attacks, it eventually became the four most important people that were able to make it to the ceremony. It was a symbol meant to remind everyone that nobody is truly alone. Two ahead and two behind and it was to salute, “those who led the way to where you are and those who will always have your back.” 

Mom and dad were obviously the first two but the other ones kept changing. Castaspella had indeed found some wonderful information and school friends of Frosta's father plus Glimmer just loved her aunt. Lance had also shown remarkable dedication to researching her mother. Because of this Frosta and Castaspella had become closer to one another. At the same time both of them hung out with Glimmer the three had grown much closer the last couple weeks. She really wanted to include them as well.

Then there was Adora of course. There may not be a wedding or even an Etheria without her. When reforging the Princess Alliance, Perfuma was the first one to join the cause plus she was one of the few that avoided being chipped by Horde Prime. The Rebellion could have collapsed before The Best Friend Squad, Entrapta, and Wrong Hordak even got back to Etheria without her. She might have never even had the chance to return to Etheria had it not been for Catra so she had earned consideration as well. Too many good friends to limit it to just four.

Then there was the, 'political calculation' option. The war with The Horde was over and Glimmer had given a full pardon to everyone but that didn't mean all bad will and resentment had vanished. Since returning, Glimmer had gone to great strides to show unity and trust. This included inviting Hordak to many public events, which he often attended understanding the importance and symbolism. Having Hordak as one of her escorts could be HUGE. Of course Wrong Hordak was a huge help throughout their journeys and helped rescue Angella so leaving him out just felt wrong. She was just beginning a fresh attempt at trying to reason out the “right,” choices once again when the door opened and she heard several people enter.

She knew Bow was one which was confirmed when she felt him place a hand on her shoulder and lean down to give her a light kiss on the cheek. Deciding to take a break from her decision making she turned around to see who else was there. Bow had been joined by his dads, his eldest brother, and Entrapta. The day they started planning the wedding Bow had them picked to be his accompaniment to the altar and hadn't really seemed to rethink it since .

With them were Castaspella, Micah, Angella, and Frosta. Both parents walked up to give Glimmer a hug as did Lance and George. Angella made it a point to pick up the papers from the ground and look them over. Bringing up the rear were Adora and Catra.While her mom looked over some of the previous attempts at list-making, Glimmer looked at the assembled crowd and decided there wasn't much time to actually decide but a moment to clear her head could help.

They had already informed Castaspella that the baby would be named Castacharma, she cried as expected. The competition didn't last too long though. Both Bow and Glimmer knew her and expected a lot of baby clothes sent their way but were still amazed exactly how prolific the deliveries were. They were even more surprised to notice that many of the baby outfits came with matching adult sized outfits. Outfits that would fit Glimmer and Bow and were styles Glimmer wasn't particularly excited about wearing in public. 

What they still hadn't told anybody though is that George and Lance weren't going to be left out in the cold without any honors. “Thank you for coming everyone, me and Bow are so glad that you can all be here as we would like to make a little bit of an announcement.”

Bow took over as they planned, “Well, we know the war is over and we know that Shield Parents aren't as important as they used to be but still, bad things happen. We have no idea what the future will bring. The universe and everything can be dangerous, remember at one time we thought The Horde and Hordak were the greatest threats we would ever know.”

“Then Prime came along and showed us we had no idea what a threat even was. Everything seems fine but we have no idea what will happen in the future so we decided we want our baby to have Shield Parents just in case.”

Glimmer and Bow took a moment to let the words soak in. Catra and Adora both looked at one another but soon realized that the other was just as clueless as she was. Glimmer was about to press on but it was interrupted by Catra as she stood forward with her ears bowed down in a mild case of embarrassment, “What's a shield parent?”

Bow decided to answer, “Well, originally it was described as a child's last line of defense. If something happened to me and, “ he got visibly shaken up for a moment finding it hard to say the words. He took a moment to breathe deeply and wipe a tear from his eye before saying it, “and something happened to Glimmer, Castacharma would need someone to look after them. To protect and raise them in our place.”

Catra and Adora both nodded their heads in understanding. Catra though smiled and made a typical sarcastic remark, “Just don't do anything too stupid Sparkles, Me and Adora don't feel like changing diapers any time soon.”

With a sigh Glimmer shook her head, “Sorry but we have decided to not choose you or Adora.”

Adora looked a little surprised at that but Catra looked outright angry, “Really?! How can you not choose Adora?! Can you honestly name one person on Etheria who would be better at protecting your baby?!”

Next to her Adora's face was hidden by her hand, under that was a combined smile and blush. The other hand reached out and grabbed Catra by the shoulder, “Please settle down, let her explain. I'm sure she had a good reason.” Catra looked a bit annoyed still but crossed her arms in front of her chest and waited for an answer.

Glimmer looked at Catra and tilted her head to the side, giving her an expression that said she totally agreed with Catra. But the eyes said there were more to come, “You are totally correct Catra, if all we wanted was a bodyguard to protect Castacharma, Adora would be the first person we went to. But it's not that simple. We don't know if more threats will come to Etheria so Bow has kept working on his archery and Entrapta has been helping him invent all sorts of crazy new arrows when she has time.”

Entrapta hadn't spoken much but decided to elaborate at this point, “Oh yeah, it's been great. Scorpia recently let me have a few samples of the venom from her tail and look at her electricity powers. I have used some of the data I collected to help Bow invent some arrows that can release electricity and another that can cause a person to fall asleep. I've begun designing one that combines Bow's net arrows with electricity for more extreme cases, of course that means we'd need to change the ropes to a better conductive material, lining with some sort of metal...”

Bow put a hand up and Entrapta blushed. She had gotten better around people but not much and she still had a tendency to ramble when scientific studies became the topic of conversation though. “Anyway, I've keep training. Glimmer is too scared to teleport while pregnant and doesn't do too much battle training but has been studying magic with Castaspella and Micah once in a while. Of course Angella and Micah are almost always nearby as well. If whatever comes our way can take out all of us plus the palace guards, it's probably something very dangerous...”

“...and of course that's just the kind of thing She-ra would be on the front line fighting.” Catra looked a tiny bit satisfied with the answer as she stood still thinking about it further, “I suppose a war zone or disaster area probably isn't the safest place for a kid.”

Bow nodded and continued, “Exactly. With all the respect in the world, we prefer a Shield Parent who we feel we can trust to get Castacharma out of harm's way. Smuggle them out or do whatever to get them some place safe. We want someone to keep them safe and hidden if necessary.”

Then Glimmer sighed, “So we've chosen Lance and George. You raised over a dozen kids during a huge war and somehow almost all of them stayed safe from the battles and fighting. The one that didn't stay out of the war was safe until he grew older and chose to get involved.” She reached out and held tightly onto Bow's hand. “Because of that, to raise our baby if things come to that, there is nobody in the universe we trust more than you two.”

With a raised eyebrow Catra looked at everyone there and shrugged, “I've heard worse answers, it's actually fairly smart. And I guess I don't want Adora trying to fight a monster one-handed while trying to hold onto the kid.”

Adora finally pulled her hand away from her face and it was apparently she had been laughing the whole time, “You are so cute when you try to defend my honor.”

Catra's tail shot up and fluffed out as her body went rigid. “Defend your. Look I'm not. Why does everybody keep saying I'm cute?!”

This only made Adora laugh harder, “You know, if everyone keeps saying it, maybe it's because...”

“Please don't say it!”

Adora just shrugged her shoulders, “Can't help it. You're smart, you're brave, you're tough, and no matter how old we get I will always think you're the cutest and most beautiful creature I have ever seen.”

“Doofus. I am not and if you want proof I'm not the cutest thing on Etheria you should look in a mirror sometime...”

Catra and Adora began talking in hushed voices and went into the corner of the room. Maybe it was a throwback to the days when they were rivals, maybe it was part of The Horde training, or something totally different but they had developed an odd flirty argument part of their relationship. It usually seemed centered around the notion that the other was the true prize of the relationship. Often it was just Catra and Adora going back and forth asserting how wonderful the other is. Though of course it was apparent to any observer that it was just a game and a mutual form of teasing.

With Adora and Catra looking for a more secluded area to have their, 'argument' Angella decided to give them some privacy by distracting everyone and talking about something else. “I see from these lists that you've been having a hard time choosing your wedding entourage.”

Glimmer sighed and looked back at the blank paper on her desk for a moment. “Yeah, it's been hard. With all the decisions I've had to make as a queen how can something so silly be so difficult?”

Angella and Micah just glanced at one another. Micah began laughing and Angella just put her head back and sighed. Glimmer was a little upset at being laughed at and curious as to the joke but knew her parents would explain soon enough. “You have no idea how many times I have asked your father that very question when I first became queen. Eventually you come to realize that almost no decision you make as queen is silly. Just about everything is important and can have a fair amount of significance. If you want though, I can provide you with my personal advice for your wedding procession.”

Glimmer groaned in appreciation at the suggestion, “I'll take any advice you can give me.”

With that Micah and Angella gave each other a quick glance with Micah providing a knowing wink. Angella smiled and actually sauntered to the desk Glimmer had been writing at with an air of confidence Glimmer hadn't seen very often since her mother had returned. Something about her mother and father's body language made her think that the two had just managed an incredibly precise conversation without saying a single word.

“Your big problem here Glimmer is you keep restricting yourself.” She unfolded the crumbled up bit of paper she had just been glancing at and sighed, “Perhaps there is another option that you have not yet considered.” With that she randomly picked one of the lists Glimmer had worked out earlier and after dipping a quill in some ink, firmly crossed out the names of herself and Micah.

Glimmer just looked at her confused, “B-but,'”

Angella placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder before bending at the knees so they were face-to-face. “But nothing. Remember I once sat as queen and I think you may have taken some examples from my leadership.”

Glimmer just nodded, “Of course. I mean, you were amazing as queen and I want to do half as well as you.”

Angella just smiled, “After all that has gone on these last few years and all that you have done, the mere idea that you believe you must still catch up to me makes me so happy.” She moved in closer to whisper in Glimmer's ear, “Truth is everything that you've done makes me feel as if I had been rather inadequate.”

Glimmer just sat stunned for a moment as her brain went into overdrive trying to figure out how that could be true. Or maybe her mom was telling a little white lie in order to make her feel better? Not something she really ever did though so it was out of character so maybe it was true? But moving back and talking at normal volume again Angella went back to her original point, “But I notice Hordak's name keeps coming up. Would I be correct to assume that is part of your desire to repair burnt bridges and unify former Horde and Rebellion forces?”

Glimmer nodded, “Mostly. Plus you know, Bow and Entrapta said we couldn't have brought you back without his knowledge of portals. AND we wouldn't have even known Dad was alive on Beast Island if we hadn't gone to save Entrapta. So in a weird way he was a big part of both my parents coming back.”

Angella nodded, that made sense too. “But you must remember the bigger picture sometimes Glimmer. Having Hordak as your wedding escort could be a tremendous show of solidarity to the people. Now I ask you to go even larger. How great a sign of solidarity would it to have Hordak at your side instead of your own mother?”

Glimmer began to slightly shake her head in slight disbelief but Bow chimed it to say she had a good point. “I know you feel that you need me and your father by your side but trust us, you have already provided us more than enough moments of pride and joy than we could imagine. With all that has happened the mere fact that I would get to sit in the crowd with Micah, arm-in-arm as we watch you get married feels like an impossible stroke of fortune and far more than I could have ever hoped for.”

Micah remained sitting and pulled Frosta closer into a slight hug, “And with how close you and this one have gotten recently I don't think she'd forgive me if I took a spot she could have used.”

Frosta pulled away and lightly punched him in the shoulder with a smile, “Yeah old man, stop trying to come between me and Glimmer.” Just about everyone had a little laugh or two. Glimmer looked from her mother to her father and then at Glimmer. There was an undeniable sparkle in her eye at the mention of being in the escort. 

Glimmer turned around and wrote the names of Hordak and Frosta. “And we already didn't pick Adora for Shield Parent so Catra will kill me if I don't pick her;”

“I think she's finally starting to get it,” Catra said, smiling as her and Adora kept snuggling off to the side.

Glimmer rolled her eyes and smiled, for a while it was hard to believe that the former evil Horde-scum soldier was a friend. Now the feelings had firmly switched as they saw how loving, affectionate, and protective Catra could be when she figured out healthier ways to express her feelings. Rather than finding it hard to accept her friendship, it was now hard to accept that they were once enemies. 

“That leaves one more.”

Everyone just sat quietly thinking but it was Castaspella that eventually broke the silence, “I think it has to be Perfuma. She was the first princess to join the new Alliance, she was a huge part of the fight against Horde Prime, and since the war ended few have worked harder to overcome the old wounds. Both to the environment and people.”

Glimmer had thought many of the same things. “Where is she by the way?”

Castaspella shrugged, “Right where you'd expect. The moment we got off the boat she started talking about bad vibes that needed to be mended. She was planning some group meditation circles and trying to examine the plant life in the ocean that were damaged by The Horde's invasion so many years ago. She-ra releasing the magic of Etheria helped fix a lot but that didn't mean all the work was complete.”

“Not to mention all the new medicines she was able to figure out with the new magical plants that have popped up. That girl has been such a hard worker and done so much. Scorpia remains too busy with the children she is caring for in The Fright Zone to come so were I in your place, I would consider that the proper choice as well,” Angella added. 

So Adora, Frosta, Hordak, and Perfuma. I guess we can ask some of the guards to help find them.”

They were about to finalize their own separate preparations when Adora stopped dead in her tracks half way out the door, “I just realized I don't know what to wear. I don't know if I can get the right clothes in time. Are we supposed to match? What color are we wearing...”

Everyone who hadn't left the room and got stuck behind Adora smiled. George responded, “No, in fact formal attire is generally appreciated but not required.” He and Lance began leading Adora and Catra out of the room as they spoke, “In fact wearing matching clothing is generally frowned upon. The escort is meant to symbolize that those who have come before you and those that have your back. At the same time it is generally preferred the escort don't try to ensemble matching clothes at all. The point is to symbolize the diversity of those in your life. Nobody knows for sure when this started but it is fairly well established to predate the birth of Queen Angella's parents by quite a while. Some of the records before then get a bit spotty but we have pieced together a few things...”

\---That Evening---

It was an absolutely amazing, beautiful day so far. Even before The Horde attack Salineas wasn't an overwhelmingly large city. With no great stadiums or amphitheater to gather people in, they had decided on an outdoor wedding. Sea Hawk and Mermista had acquired a large, sailboat and tied it to the end of the the end of an especially long dock built for this event. On either side of the long dock dock were a pair of smaller flatbed boats where some of Glimmer and Bow's family and close friends sat. Of course plenty more boats were anchored around the city within eyesight of the festivities, watching from the sea. 

There was a long, prearranged path to the altar meant to give as many people a chance to view both spouses as possible. Glimmer smiled as she looked out the window in the small building that had been assigned as her starting location. Salineas was a bit out of the way and many people left and hadn't returned after The Horde attacked it several years ago. Part of the reason Glimmer chose Salineas was the hope visitors would fall in love with the new, beautiful city and consider moving here. 

“So far, so good,” she said out loud but mainly to herself. As her eyes moved across the room she gave everyone an appreciative wave. It didn't take long as there weren't many people around her. Bow's planned route started from a different building and his route did pass near them so at the current moment, Frosta had run out really quick to see him. As a result her current company was Adora, Perfuma, Hordak, and a pair of palace guards. The guards were mainly just looking out the windows and listening for threats as well as for the, “start Glimmer,” signal. 

Glimmer was very nervous, constantly moving between sitting down and idly pacing the room. Her dark red, almost black dress occasionally sweeping the floor and chosen as a salute the only runestone princess that couldn't attend. The rest of her outfit though was color coordinated with the runestones. The flower-laden pink bonnet on her head was the same color as the Heart-Blossom in Plumeria. The long, light blue gloves she wore matched the color of the Frostal Flake in the Kingdom of Snows perfectly. Hanging from both ears were earrings that contained several small, perfect pearls meant to salute Salineas itself. Even her shoes were a light purple that matched the moonstone back home.

There were few things in life that Glimmer had been more sure of than this day and marrying Bow but that didn't stop her from being nervous. She also felt a bit nervous about the route she had to walk. Her pregnancy was now a couple months along and she was reaching the point where the extra weight was beginning to take its toll. Of course Bow had worried about it more than she did and as a result he insisted on the wedding beginning near sundown because he didn't want her in the direct, hot sun for too long.

They sat in silence for a while just waiting for their call until Frosta came in beaming and to everyone's surprise had a bit of a nervous looking Catra in tow behind her. 

“Hey Adora, can I have a word with you?”

The two went and started talking in the corner. It was obviously not something terrible as Catra seemed more embarrassed and nervous than anything else. “So about our wedding,. We had kind of talked about waiting for Bow and Glimmer to have theirs and after that make it a small thing. Just me, you, and a couple friends right?”

Adora wanted to sigh or groan but instead it came out as a chuckle. She looked back at the crowd and saw Frosta talking excitedly to Glimmer and making occasional, furtive glances over in their direction. “So Frosta convinced you to rethink it?”

Catra leaned up against a window sill and lightly rubbed her arm, “Sort of. Honestly for a kid she can be a bit crafty. I think she guilted me into it more than anything. Apparently she's seeing all the tourism and business that the royal wedding has done here and pointed out that a wedding for the great 'Hero of Etheira, She-ra' might offer similar benefits to The Snow Kingdom.” She turned away from Adora, now leaning so now her elbows were on the window sill as Adora placed an arm on her back. “Then the sneaky little brat mentioned the Princess Prom and how it didn't end so well...”

Adora scooted over and wrapped both arms around Catra in a hug, giving her a firm squeeze with Adora's stomach leaning into Catra's back. “So she played the, 'you owe me a party' card?” Catra just nodded an affirmative. “Don't forget we agreed to the small celebration because we wanted to get it over with and don't care about how the party goes. So long as we end the night together, that's all I care about.”

Adora let go of Catra and turned around to the rest of the people, “You win. Kingdom of Snows seems like a great place for us to get married. Just nothing too over-the-top please.”

Frosta jumped up and punched a fist in the air in celebration. “I'll need time to plan it but I can scale it back to something grand and tasteful. It'll be great just to have the wedding there at all. Thank you both.” Taking a quick moment to practice her court etiquette she bowed to them both slightly and then returned to talking with Glimmer. Apparently she was worried about Glimmer walking with the baby as much as Bow was and thought making a throne out of ice and pushing it along the route. That way she could stay off her feet and wouldn't get too hot. Of course she also just thought the idea of being pushed around on an ice throne would look cool and be an awesome idea. Glimmer gave Frosta a slight hug and said she wanted to walk and look strong but promised to give Frosta a signal if she needed a chair to sit in.

Not too long after that the guards got the signal and told everyone that it was time to go. As planned Perfuma and Adora took the lead. The moment they stepped out of the door a large clamor began spreading though out the crowd. When Glimmer followed them the uproar grew even louder. Frosta came out after and to Glimmer's pleasant surprise it didn't abate nearly as much as she had anticipated when Hordak came out. Still though Glimmer decided a little more “show of unity could help. Once out in the open but before they began the full walk she reached over and gave each of her escorts a big, tight, friendly hug culminating with Hordak. 

Hordak still really wasn't accustomed to hugs from anyone other than Entrapta or Scorpia so it still felt awkward and he blushed a little. As the two separated Glimmer gave Hordak a quick thanks that was barely heard before the five continued walking.

It didn't take long though before the group got swept up in the adulation and begun having a little fun. It started small with Frosta worried about Glimmer in the heat and she tossed up some small ice crystals to give them all a slight, cool wind to blow around and cool her down. Slowly though her ice crystals began to earn approval of the crowd. As the crowd appreciation began to grow, Frosta's initial plan to cool things down became secondary and the ice-power displays became more showy. 

As the crowd began cheering louder and louder for Frosta, Perfuma began to get a little jealous and decided to exercise her powers a little bit too. Petunias, irises, and pansies began to fly out from Perfuma's sleeves, lightly showering the crowd with an amazing, colorful assortment of flowers. It didn't take many long to realize that most of the flowers were white, purple, or pink in shades that very closely resembled Gimmer's hair. The only flowers that didn't were the brown irises. Glimmer took a couple steps out of her path in order to grab one and look closer to realize these ones were amazingly similar in color to Bow's hair. She looked up at Perfuma who just gave a wink and smile. 

Apparently Frosta decided that Perfuma was stealing some of the crowd and tried to think of a way to raise her performance and get everyone cheering for her again. Within a couple seconds she had and idea and took a couple steps to the side to get closer to Hordak, “Hey, do you still have that arm cannon thing?”

Horak just nodded, “It was built into my physical structure. Unfortunately I can't get rid of it if I wanted to.”

Frosta's face just lit up, “That's great! Here, I have an idea!” A few seconds later a ball of ice abut the size of a watermelon formed above the crowd only to be blasted apart seconds later by a beam of light. With that tiny ice crystals and a little bit of water began falling down on the crowd. While it may not have been as effective at cooling the Queen, the people seemed to enjoy the show. The children in the crowd particularly seemed to love watching the ice getting blown up.

As this all happened Glimmer began smiling and laughing in a way that she hadn't in a long time. Considering how great the past few years were that was saying a lot. Everyone now seemed to be on the verge of just having fun, using their powers, and entertaining the crowd as much as they could. As they got about half way to the final dock Adrora glanced back over her shoulder and was laughing just as much. With a wave of her hand, Glimmer yelled “go for it,” to her. 

Without missing a step Adora materialized her sword and transformed. Glimmer not wanting to be left out of the show began sending up some of her glitter bombs to make a nice little light show.

Meanwhile standing with nervous joy stood Bow as the boat he stood on slowly rocked beneath his feet. He smiled as he heard the cheering crowd continue to get closer. As it did he noticed an odd reaction. He expected cheering, clapping, and a positive reaction from the crowd but all too quickly it moved away from the reverent, respectful one he expected into a loud, boisterous, and raucous one. Following that were flashes of light and what sounded almost like weak explosions. 

Part of him felt a need to quickly run and make sure nothing was wrong or at least know what was happening. There were guards on rooftops and none of them seemed alarmed which was the only thing keeping him where he was. Instead he just shifted uncomfortably and waited. It took a while considering the planned route Glimmer and her escort were supposed to walk but Bow kept his eyes locked on that corner.

He watched for any break in the crowd, any sign of what was happening, The first thing that he saw was a slowly falling mist of flower petals. Too far away to see the colors beyond the green of the stems but he was pretty sure that's what they were, with Perfuma there that wasn't a big surprise though. The next thing was a little bit more startling though, a massive ball of ice suddenly flying through the air, only to get blasted away by a large flash of red light. That one left him a bit perplexed. The first actual person he saw was also a bit of surprise as they had asked Adora to be part of the escort rather than She-ra. The explanation for the crowd reaction and explosions were soon apparent though. The group walked forward a little bit and after a while Frosta waved her arms and a massive ball of ice, nearly as wide as the street appeared on the ground. In an impressive show of strength She-ra picked it up, held it aloft with one hand. For a brief second moving in a way that allowed her to hold it up with one finger before taking a firmer grasp and launching it up into the air where it was blasted into bits by Hordak. The three then posed in the middle of the street where Glimmer used her sparkle bombs right above them in a manner that looked like fireworks while flowers rained down upon the trio.

Bow didn't know whether to face-palm, laugh, or cringe. A look down at Angella provided him with the disapproving mom-glare that he expected from her. Micah on the other hand was obviously holding back a strong laughter with awkward glances towards Angella hoping she didn't notice his mirth. 

Looking down at his accompaniment at least someone was acting as expected. George had sneaked a small note pad and was writing things down while Lance leaned over his shoulder to tell him what was going on and providing proofreading mid-sentence. George was always a bit of a workaholic when it came to his historian records and it had become apparent that he was more dedicated than ever when his children were one of the lead characters of the historical record he was making.

But as the group got closer and the crowd continue to cheer Bow noticed two things. The first was that Entrapta looked like she was having a hard time staying put. He guess she desperately wanted to yell for Emily so they could go join the fun together. The second was a greater picture aspect. At no point that anyone still living on Etheria could remember had there been a larger group of people collected together for one event. Never before had more eyes been more fixed at one place. And what they saw was the dark, dangerous, evil Hordak laughing. He was smiling, playing, and having a good time. He was doing it with The Princess of Power She-ra, the Queen of Brightmoon, and two of the princesses from the alliance formerly sworn to defeat him. The crowd had seemingly forgotten that he was supposed to be the bad guy and were now cheering for him just about as loudly as any of the others. 

As they approached the dock where they were to walk out together for the ceremony Glimmer one-by-one went to her entourage and asked them to calm down, giving them a hug as she did so. Bow himself had a moment of epiphany to how far things had come in a few years though with the hug Glimmer gave to Hordak. It was a long time before he could look at Hordak without feeling a moment of anger, fear, or at least nervousness deep down. As Glimmer's stomach grew rounder, Bow became ever more worrisome and protective, often to her annoyance. Not too long ago Glimmer being in the same city as Hordak while pregnant would have terrified him beyond imagining. Now he felt nothing but a vague sense of happiness and contentment. 

As the final hug separated, She-ra transformed back into Adora and the group began walking up the dock like they were supposed to. They walked up the dock with the sun quickly descending but before it past the horizon a fine mist of water began to hover over the five walking along the dock. With the angle of the light and perfect concentration of water that had gathered, a small but brilliantly well-defined rainbow began to hover above Glimmer. As she approached the plank between boat and dock the mist and rainbow that it created began to grow. As Glimmer made it to the altar to stand beside Bow, the small rainbow that started over the Queen was now visible to everyone in the city. It lasted for about a minute before Mermista looked down at Bow and Glimmer who were both giving her a knowing smile.

“So what? Am I not allowed to have any fun?” she ashed snidely while smiling at them.

Bow and Glimmer, with smiles so bright and full their cheeks were beginning to feel a little sore they joined hands and walked up a couple stair so they now stood on the bow of the ship right next to the wooden white podium that Mermista stood behind. Their escorts split up so that they alternated while holding hands in a half-circle. Left-to-right it started with Bow's eldest brother Franklin followed by Perfuma, Lance, Hordak, George, Frosta, Entrapta, and Adora. 

As everyone got into place, Mermista reached over the podium to grab Bow and Glimmer's free hands and brought them together as well so the couple stood with both hands clasped in the grips of their significant other and they were looking each other in the eye. Once again she tapped the little communication thing that Entrapta had designed to allow everyone across the city to hear. A couple of signals from some of the guards indicated that it was at least working well enough so it was time to start.

“On behalf of myself I would like to welcome everyone to Salineas and my kingdom. On behalf of Micah, Angella, George,and Lance I would like to welcome you to the wedding of my longtime, personal friends and greatest allies Queen Glimmer of Brightmoon to her longtime friend, adviser, and partner Bow.” She paused for a moment so Bow and Glimmer could raise up their hands together and pose for a brief round of applause from some people in the crowd.

“When I found out that Glimmer and Bow had finally decided to get married, I was really happy for them. When I heard they were going to have a baby, I said it was about time as Bow's always kind of been a mom anyway. When they asked me to be in charge of the ceremony, I just groaned in annoyance. I really didn't want to do it. I'm not a princess because of my public speaking and I've never been great with any of that decorum stuff. I'm literally a princess because there's a very pretty, white ball that lets me grow a breathtakingly beautiful fishtail, breathe under water, and move water around.

I felt there was no way I could ever create a speech that would live up to what it needed to be. It was Perfuma though that talked me into it, even though I was trying to convince her to take over this part of the ceremony. She reminded me that poets, writers, authors, and songwriters have spent pretty much all of recorded history trying to explain true love. Many come close, many way off. Lots of times different people will disagree on who's close and who is way off. Love defies definition because it is as varied and amazing as all the people that share it. 

As she said that I realized a couple of things. First was her ability to say stuff like that was why I asked her to do the speech and I was totally gonna steal it. I also realized I was going to ask the other princesses and hope they'd give me more cool stuff to say. With all due respect to them none of them really had anything that fit honestly. That forced me to think more about what Perfuma said and as I did, I realized how right she was.

For Perfuma and Scorpia much of their love is based on a partnership. They work together taking care of the orphans they care for, gardening, and of course there is the hugs. Lots and lots of hugs, My ribs were sore for a week after my last trip to the Fright Zone. Bow's fathers, Lance and George, enjoy a cold night, a warm fire, some wine, and some good books followed by philosophical discussions and sharing obscure historical facts. The war against The Horde may have ended but that doesn't mean Catra, Adora, Bow and Glimmer stopped fighting one another. Their battles have just shifted from ones of hate and anger to friendly competition. They actually help one another get better at fighting. Instead of trying to destroy one another they now fight to make one another stronger. If you think about it that way it kind of makes love sound kind of cool.”

And with that, Mermista reached down and placed a hand on each of the couples' shoulder. “And speaking of cool, that brings us to the couple of the day. Look at the crowd of thousands around us and it speaks to how cool they are. How much people love and respect them and I need to say that I feel they earned it. Entrapta's machine was what saved us all from Horde Prime's chips but I'll always be grateful to Bow for finishing the hacking job she started and saving me from being stuck under his command. With him you get a guy that grew up with a couple of anti-war, historian librarians. He secretly taught himself archery and worked hard enough that he became both one of The Rebellion's best soldiers, but one of it's best tech guys. He was so friendly, trustworthy, brave, resourceful, and protective that he wound up being Princess Glimmer's best friend. For a while I hear he was largely her only true friend. He has always experimented with arrows and trying to come up with them. Some ideas worked out well, others were total flops, but he never let doubt get in the way of curiosity. If one of his arrow ideas didn't work out or weren't as useful as he hoped, if twenty or thirty in a row were lackluster it didn't stop him. He'd just shrug his shoulders, grab some drafting paper, and begin designing the next ones. If you ask me, that's pretty cool. Then when the war seems finished, you went traveling through space. Once you finished traveling through space you ran off to secretly create a dimensional portal to save your girlfriend's mom. He's one of the nicest, friendliest, and most protective people I've ever met on top of all that in addition to being a genius warrior space-traveling king and father. Seriously, save some cool things for the rest of us to do.”

She took a moment to pause and the audience gave Bow a low but enthusiastic, respectful level of applause. Then we have Glimmer. The Princess who convinced Adora to join The Rebellion and re-formed the Princess alliance. But she didn't just get us all together, one-by-one she earned our trust and admiration as a leader. Before she started her mission of uniting us, apparently many of us didn't realize how powerful we actually were. Perfuma was the first she went to and I guess claimed that she wasn't strong enough to battle. She just underestimated herself and her own power. But Glimmer wasn't just going to sit back and let The Horde have the land and take over, she wasn't going to let them continue poisoning the ground and moved in to attack even though the forces they faced were an actual threat. In the end, Perfuma actually had to come to her rescue. 

Perfuma said her powers weren't really a battle asset or would be helpful in the war, but that didn't stop Glimmer from leading an effort to help her. That's two of the coolest thing about Glimmer to me. She often doesn't force people to do things, she isn't strict or demanding either most of the time. There's just something about being around her that makes people want to be their best and if that isn't good enough, she makes them want to get better. I think that comes from her failed mission in Plumeria. After being told that everyone there were peaceful and not much in terms of battle allies she still defended them simply because she's just such a sweetheart. Despite all the animosity and war-based angst, she was kind of the first member of The Rebellion to start befriending Catra. Even when it comes to her mortal enemies, Glimmer can't stand to see them suffer. They began to establish an an actual relationship on Horde Prime's ship and What was the result when everything got wrapped up on his space ship? Catra had a lifetime of suffering and resentment beginning to come to an end and she has worked hard to become a better person. Granted most of that's probably because of Adora, but you still got the current flowing on that.

But of course she's got more going for her than just being a caring, inspirational leader. I mean, she beat Micah. He was controlled by Horde Prime and was willing to use dark magic and every trick he could to stop her, and she still took him down. You're dad had magic ability that had become the thing of legend. I was out cold but I hear Micah was able to like, freeze everyone on the battlefield you were on. Just amazing power, but that legend couldn't stand up to the might of his little, baby girl. Again, that is like, so epically cool.”

Again there was a strong round of applause from the crowd in town listening in and Mermista paused to let it play out. “But that's about all I have to say. The speech is short but I feel as if I did an amazing job praising you guys and want to end on a high note. Glimmer and Bow, time for your union speeches.”

Mermista smiled at them with a satisfied smirk and moved the microphone between the couple. After an awkward moment Glimmer decided to go first. “As I stand here and think back to our lives together, I find myself remembering the first time we met. I had finally started getting old enough to seriously consider getting into the, 'actually fighting,' part of the war and officially begin fighting with The Rebellion and you were a new recruit who had shown some skill with a bow. Of course Mom didn't want to let me go fight so she kept making up reasons not to keep me nowhere near battle, usually centered around the idea that my powers weren't developed enough. That I needed to get better at teleporting. I already overused my powers a lot, but after she told me that, it became so much worse as I began using the powers even more in a sad attempt to prove her wrong.”

She wiped a small tear away , a big smile as she thought back to those days. “And without much magic energy in my body at that point, I had to return to the moonstone to recharge ten times a day at least. We were still at war, I was young and small, the scars of losing Dad weren't fresh anymore but they were still causing Mom a great deal of pain, and my powers were drained. This meant she didn't want me to walk to the moonstone alone. So me and the royal guards got to know each other quite well as mom sent one or two with me for recharging every time I had to go.

Until one day I needed to recharge but we were walking through the castle corridors together and there weren't any guards nearby. She would walk through the castle as usual and every time she took a few steps, I would teleport a couple ahead of her. Of course eventually an attempt suddenly failed as I had ran out of power. Mom gave an all too familiar frustrated groan and rested her hand on her forehead as she looked for an escort. And that's when a handsome, dark-skinned, dark haired young man came around the corner with a bow on his shoulder and a letter from a nearby encampment in his hand. He was professional, friendly, and perhaps the most nervous I have ever seen anybody in my life. Mom read the letter and told you that she was going to need a little while to draft an appropriate response and asked you to escort me to the runestone to recharge.

You didn't say a single word on the way there and were every bit the tall, silent, stoic guard that you thought you were expected to be. I tried to get you to talk but you simply went about your duty and kept quiet. By the time mom had her councils and talked things over with those she needed to discuss the letter with, I had already worn my magic out again and she asked you to escort me to the stone for a second time. This time on the way you actually spoke. I was used to mom telling me to slow down and be more careful but you began asking questions about how the power worked. You asked if teleporting different distances required different amounts of power. If doing it one after another requires more power than taking a few seconds or minutes between them. I hadn't even considered bringing others along when I teleport until you asked if it was possible. Eventually you were also the one brave enough to be my first passenger.

Over time that curiosity is one of the things that I grew to love most about you. Your honesty was always so refreshing too. As a princess I often felt the only person capable of being completely honest with me was my mom and to be honest, I wasn't always thrilled with the criticism she offered. I love her but she often was an overprotective mom while you, you were a cautious but constructive friend. While Mom was saying something was too dangerous and I wasn't allowed, you were saying it was dangerous and we should be careful and you had my back. But you also were never above telling me when you thought I was wrong. You could even be strong and assertive when you felt the chances I took could be disastrous. Thinking back I think that's what I appreciated more than anything. You didn't bend when you knew I was acting rashly. As we move forward Bow, and keep traveling down the road together please provide me the respect, candor, friendship, and loyalty you always have in the past.

It was thanks to your scientific approach that made my powers so much more effective. You helped me learn to teleport a bit smarter. With the war going Mom always wanted me to learn how to use weapons to defend myself but I tended to rely too much on powers and was sloppy. At some point though I started having a desire to impress you with my own fighting talent. I don't know if it was your archery skills or if that's when my crush on you began, but all I know is I finally took it seriously. Because of stuff like that and so much more I don't have time to talk about, you helped make me a better person. I'm a better leader, a better warrior, a better teleporter, and even just a better person because of the example you have set for me.”

Glimmer then moved the microphone away and stood on her tiptoes while Bow bent down. Glimmer gave him a light kiss on the forehead before they took a moment for a brief hug. During all of that their hands remained together so Mermista put the mic in front of Bow since it was now his turn.

“I remember that day we met too. It was the first time I had been trusted enough in the camp to deliver a message and the first time I got to encounter the legendary Queen Angella. I had always heard how tall she was but was still totally unprepared for her presence. Next to her though was a girl that took my breath away. So brash. So headstrong. So assertive. And so disrespectful. And to the queen of all people. To be honest I'm still not sure if I was more offended or impressed by you. The latter quickly won in my mind though.

I can't begin to tell my dads how much I love them. How much I respect them. But just like all of us, they weren't perfect. Of course neither was I. I wish they could have been a little bit better listeners when I hinted at a desire to fight or be a part of The Rebellion. On the other hand it may have helped if I had been more assertive and told them how I felt. I was always too scared to. Too afraid to disappoint them. I just didn't want to rock the boat under any circumstances. It didn't take long before I wished I had the same level of confidence to talk back to my dads as you did with your mom. In fact I confess now that part of the reason I suggested ways to improve your teleport abilities that first day was that it would give you more leverage to use in arguments with your mom. I hoped that with that, some of your confidence would rub off on me.

The great thing is that some of it did. I never really worked up the courage to confront my dads with what I was doing at the so-called 'academy' but I could feel myself becoming more sure of myself as we hung out together. When I made suggestions to help you improve your skills, you actually listened to me. You took many of my suggestions and recommendations as actually worth listening to and considering. That was something I had been needing and craving for years. As the ideas for arrows expanded, you almost never said it was a bad idea. Even if you thought the idea wasn't practical or useful, you supported them as cool ideas. 

Even though you were so opinionated and so full of confidence at times, you were almost never too full of yourself to listen to me. Someone listening to me is something I needed the most which is honestly why I got so upset when you activated the Heart of Etheria. You were the one person I could consistently rely on to listen to me and at that moment, you stopped. But once that ended, it didn't take long before you returned to the Glimmer I loved. You even told me to be angry and upset as long as I needed to be. You were willing to listen to me even if it was just me saying how mad I was or why I felt betrayed. Your willingness to listen even to my anger made it hard to stay angry. 

Between that and the war, all too soon I felt myself falling back into my old feelings for you. The old laughter, desire to protect you, and the drive to prove myself to you began to return. Oddly enough though I think that's where I realized my love for you was more than just the love of a friend. For so long you were the Princess of Brightmoon and I was just Bow. I guess I always felt kind of unworthy and beneath you. Not really because of anything you said or did, you were great. I was just unable to think of myself as a king or a prince. But that helped me to realize that even great leaders and queens can make mistakes. Which probably also means that as King I wouldn't be expected to be perfect either. I had been working up the nerve for our first real kiss pretty much since Horde Prime was beaten and before we went back into space. I was worried you'd reject me but then after a month in space, in the middle of a sparring session with Catra and Adora, you kissed me. It was a magical moment and seemed to last forever. The rest of that month is a total blur to me and the only other thing I kind of remember is Catra's smug smile when we finally pulled away from each other and Adora wiping a tear away as she smiled at us. According to Catra you had been wanting to kiss me almost as long but was still too worried I was mad at her. She was the one who told you to go for it and find out one way or the other.”

Bow took a moment to clear his throat and continued. “But that's a quality I think all great leaders and all great partners need to have; the ability to listen and willingness to let others speak. You have proven to be great at that and that's one of the things I truly love most about you. You have made me a more confident person, Today is a perfect example of that. A wedding can be one of the biggest and most important days in someone's life and it's bound to be stressful and make someone nervous. At least that's what I hear. It's a big moment, but at no point have I found myself getting the slightest bit nervous about uniting with you. Being king is scary, but, while I kept waiting for the nerves to come and make me worried, they never showed up. Marrying you has been the single easiest decision I have ever made. You have made me more willing to put both my heart and body on the line, to fight for what I want. and tell people when I disagree. I still have a ways to go and I can't think of a better way to go along that journey than arm-in-arm with you.”

He pushed the mic back towards Mermista and leaned down to give Glimmer a kiss on the forehead and short hug as well. Mermista smiled at the two of them, “Well, looks like they both gave their speeches so I guess we're back to me. Glimmer, do you pledge to honor and respect Bow, to protect him when he needs protection, hold him when he needs to be held, and to support him to the best of your ability so long as you remain together?”

Glimmer nodded her head and said, “Absolutely.”

“Bow, do you pledge to respect and honor Glimmer, to protect her when she needs protection, hold her when she needs to be held, and to support her to the best your ability so long as you remain together?”

With a smile and hoarse voice he repeated Glimmer's answer.

“All right then Salineas and people of Etheria, I give you the newest married couple in Etheria, Queen Glimmer and you new King, Bow!”

As she made the announcement the crowd in town began to cheer loudly and enthusiastically for several minutes. For a good amount of that time Bow and Glimmer were engaged in a tight kiss, holding one another while basking in the moment. They didn't let each other go until they noticed more friends and family coming onto the sailboat they stood upon to congratulate them.

===Later that night===

There weren't many people still standing on the dock as most of the wedding had moved into the city to either help with or participate in the celebration. The kingdoms had all worked together to provide plenty of free tasty food and drink to everyone in town, There was also a few places with music and dancing going on around the city so many of the guests had gone off to have some food or fun. Bow, Glimmer, their parents, Castaspella, and Mermista were still hanging out on the sailboat that the ceremony had taken place on. Albeit now more casually. Lance, Glimmer, and Bow were sitting on the stairs that led up to the pedestal they were married on while Mermista sat on the railing around the ship, Angella sat on a chair that her husband had carried on board. The others just stood around as everyone just talked, joked, and told stories about Glimmer and Bow as children. As Angella finished listing off some of the amusing places Glimmer wound up when she first experimented with teleportation they began to hear some loud blasts coming from behind them. Apparently some kids had convinced She-ra, Hordak, and Frosta do blow up a couple more giant balls of ice.

Everyone kind of looked back sharing a common thought. For everyone other than Bow and Glimmer it still felt a bit weird to have Hordak around town, let alone being around kids without the need to run in and protect them. It made the moment of silence a bit awkward so Mermista, who had been rather quiet lately spoke up, “Well, it does look pretty cool when he does that.”

Everyone on the boat just kind of sat quietly and watched the show the three were putting on for a couple minutes before Micah lightly rubbed Angella's shoulder. When they locked eyes he just gave her a meaningful glance and nodded his head in the direction on Bow and Glimmer.

“Alright, I guess now is as good a time as any that we're likely to get,” with that she slowly got up and stood next to Micah.

Micah took the lead as he addressed everyone, “Today has just been magic for me after so many years on Beast Island. I know it may seem a bit weird but I'm just feeling too happy to hold back. I want a family hug. All of us in one big group hug. Myself, Angie, Glimmer, Bow, Lance, George, and Castaspella.” He looked around to see if any of Bow's brothers were around but they were all off in the party somewhere. “Think you can all humor me for this?”

Everyone just smiled and laughed, agreeing with little hesitation. As everyone came together there was a nice, wholesome moment in which everyone just embraced as family. After a few seconds Micah spoke. “Thank you so much everyone. Not too long ago I had no family left, now in this one hug I have so much. So many loved ones and family. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Shortly after he said that Angella added, “so much for all of us to enjoy. All nine of us.” With that everyone began to separate and it took a couple moments before anybody noticed anything wrong with what she said. It was George that spoke up first. “I think you mean seven. Eight if you count the baby.”

With a playful smile she corrected him, “But counting both babies, we have nine.” There remained only confusion for a second until she finished, her voice suddenly taking on the tone of when she used to sit on the queen's throne and giving out a particularly stern or important decree. “Glimmer, I hope you haven't enjoyed being an only child too much/ You will soon need to share us as you will have a brother joining our family.”

Because of the sudden shift in tone and, as that tone historically meant Angella was delivering bad news, it took Glimmer a couple seconds to accept what she had just been told. When she did all she could do was stare blankly at her mother for a few seconds. Then at her father waiting for his smile to reveal that she was just being tricked. Then back to her mother when no such revelation came. Then back to her father. It was around the third glance at both parents that it hit her. “You''re serious.”

Micah and Angella leaned into one another, Micah resting his head on Angie's shoulder, “We found out just this week.”

Everyone was quiet for a couple minutes as Glimmer went back to her parents for another hug. “I guess that means Bow won't be the youngest brother then in the family either,” Lance joked as he stood next to his son. 

Bow smirked at that, “Yeah, the youngest always has so much pressure. So many in front of him setting examples he has to beat. I guess now the pressure's off.”

George and Lance both laughed hard at that. “Yeah, King Bow no longer needs to chase his brothers' accomplishments now that he isn't the youngest. Everyone went back to laughing and talking for a little bit until one more thing of note happened as everyone was getting ready to leave.

As they did so they were joined by a very tired and cheeky looking Sea Hawk. He had a bottle and a long package, about 2.5 meters long and a meter wide and not very deep. “Before we go, I would like us all to do one thing if you'd be so kind.” With a groan he pulled a cork out of the bottle and held it up, “I was thinking of Glimmer and the baby so don't worry, it's just grape juice. As an old sea tradition I would like to propose a toast. Both to the married couple and of course to our beautiful, generous hostess Mermista!”

Saying that he raised the bottle up in the air and took a short sip before handing it to Bow. “To me, Glimmer, and Mermista!” he seconded and handed the bottle go Glimmer. One-by-one each person humored Sea Hawk's toast. Even Angella was in too good of a mood to refuse the bottle.

As they wrapped up he then swung the long, black box in front of him and held it in front of Mermista. “With the extra business to and from Salineas the last month I was able to make quite a bit of extra money. So to congratulate you on a magnificent celebration and to thank you for all of your hard work putting it together, I decided to buy you a gift.”

With a fake, annoyed sigh Mermista opened it up and let her mouth fall open in surprise. After she recovered she looked up at Sea Hawk with the typical “not interested,” mask back on. Underneath though she was absolutely thrilled. “How did you know...”

He just shrugged his shoulders, “Me and Bow talked a lot at the welcome back party. He mentioned it and of course it just screamed adventure. I couldn't resist.”

She reached into the box and pulled out a trident. It was a bit taller than Mermista herself and had a sleek, strong, white oak handle with white metal spirals covering it from end to end. As you went from the handle into the body of the weapon, the color began go change and darken into a more golden color. At the top were three gold-colored, sharp, steel tines and where they all met on the body of the trident was a large white pearl. 

Mermista held it up for everyone to see. Bow and Glimmer both laughed out loud. “He actually got you a trident of power,” Bow remarked. A lot of people didn't know the story and didn't understand the significance so he promised to explain later. In the meantime Mermista just looked closer at it and smiled, “seems well made.” As she looked closer she noticed something off near the middle. It looked like a small button. “What's this?”

Not waiting for an answer she pressed it and raised her eyebrows as a burst of fire shot out of the middle tine. She was going to ask more about it but was stopped by Sea Hawk, “I have no idea. If you want to know how it works you've got to ask Entrapta, it was her idea. She did say it has something to do with First Ones tech. Just seemed to me that a Trident of Power should have a cool extra ability hidden in it.”

Mermista stood silently holding up the trident and held the button, letting the fire fly out of the tip for a few more seconds before releasing it. After that she pulled it down and looked closer at the tip and saw no sign of how or where the fire came out. It still looked like just a normal trident. And her disinterested mask fell off as she could no longer keep in how she felt. “This is so awesome.”

She looked at her new weapon and then to Sea Hawk smiling. With a few moments of thought she seemed to reach a conclusion. “I know everybody's tired and wants to go sleep but I”m going to ask you all to hang around for another couple minutes.” When they agreed she ran over to a nearby guard and whispered in his ear. He nodded and when Mermista returned to the group she asked them all to get back on the sailboat. She carefully set down the fire-shooting trident and addressed Bow, “So king, ready for your first royal duty?”

He looked confused and didn't even get his answer all the way out, “I gue--.” As he seemed to agree Mermista grabbed his hand and pulled him forward so that he wound up on the alter again, this time standing behind the podium. With Bow in placed she got down and grabbed Sea Hawk's hands in her own. “Look I don't want to make any speeches and I don't want to hear a wedding shanty. Plus it's late and everybody's tired so let's just get to the question and answer part. You guys can be the entourage right?”

The rest of the group quickly realized what was going on so they agreed. As they all lined up George noticed something, “There's only seven of us. Tradition usually has four for each spouse.”

Mermista just groaned until she noticed the guard she whispered to a moment ago had already returned holding something behind his back. Mermista told him to just stand at the end of the line, “There we have eight now. Bpw, your turn.”

Clearing his throat and with a nervous, halted speech he asked. “Mermista, do you pledge to honor and respect Sea Hawk, to protect him when he needs protection, hold him when he needs to be held, and to support him to the best of your ability so long as you remain together?” She kissed him on the forehead.

She didn't even speak and just nodded her head. “Sea Hawk, do you pledge to respect and honor Mermista, to protect her when she needs protection, hold her when she needs to be held, and to support her to the best of your ability so long as you remain together?”

“Nothing would be a greater adventure,” he said while lightly giving her forehead a kiss as well.

Bow just looked at them. “Well, I guess then as King of Etheria I'll let you two replace me and Glimmer as the newest married couple in Etheria. Congratulations.”

Sea Hawk leaned in for a kiss but Mermista held him back. “Not yet.” She looked behind her and over at the guard. She placed her hand out and he stepped forward handing her an unlit torch. She handed it to Sea Hawk before reaching down to grab her new trident. With a press of a button she used the flame from her Trident of Power to light the torch he was holding then led him so they were both standing under the mast and waved the flame on her trident meaningfully near it while glancing at the torch Sea Hawk held.

“I know you swore off fire for this kind of thing, but can you do it one last time? With me?”

Sea Hawk looked amazed at the offer, “You want me to burn the ship? With you?” When she just nodded her head he gave the crowd his best roguish smile, “It would be an honor. They both yelled, “Adventure!” together as their flames met, the sail of the ship between them. Everyone else quickly scattered off the boat and stood by watching as Mermista and Sea Hawk set a couple more places alight before joining everyone on the dock.

With the sun down, the stars shining brightly, and the smell and sounds of burning wood in the air, Mermista and Sea Hawk wrapped their arms together and kissed.

**Author's Note:**

> This is part one of the story. I'm a bit unsure of myself as this isn't my normal writing style. Pending positive reactions I intend to continue on with the story.


End file.
